November Alumni Newsletter 2021
Welcome to November’s newsletter! We had a busy October at York St John, including welcoming students back to campus for full-time teaching for the first time since the pandemic began. We also enjoyed watching our Black History Month events and our first alumni webinar!
This month, we’re excited to see our fantastic Creative Centre open for teaching and to celebrate with the Class of 2020 as they graduate at York Minster. We’re also looking forward to talking to Dr Tracy Rea in her upcoming webinar on 9 November.
This November, we’ll also be marking Diwali, Bonfire Night, World Access to Higher Education Day and Giving Tuesday.
Remember, Remember…it’s Diwali in November
At the start of this month, people across the world will celebrate Diwali, a five day religious festival. Known as the Festival of Lights, Diwali is celebrated by Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh communities across the world. With such a wide range of people celebrating, Diwali is celebrated in a multitude of ways. To find out more about this festival, you can read Good Housekeeping’s short article about this important festival.
This month many of our alumni will also be lighting sparklers, watching firework displays and attending bonfires together to celebrate Bonfire Night. But do you know the history behind the Gunpowder Plot? English Heritage’s article about the real story behind Bonfire Night is a useful read for finding out why Gunpowder, Treason and Plot should never be forgot.
Webinars
Last month we kicked off our alumni webinar series off with a fantastic webinar with Solomon Honey. If you missed his fantastic talk about his career in the British TV and Film industry, you can watch it on YouTube.
This month, we’re excited to host our second webinar with Dr Tracy Rea on 9 November at 11:30am. Take an early lunch and learn how Tracy went from a career in elite sports to the world of banking, and then into construction! Tracy’s PhD focused on the ability to use transferable skills to work in any industry – something she has more than proven! Book your ticket now!
‘Tis the Season (Nearly)
Is it too early to start talking about Christmas? We know that some of our alumni might already have finished their Christmas shopping whilst others can’t stand the thought of Christmas until December!
But, whether you’re already thinking about Christmas or not, our Events team are already planning some events this December.
Christmas Carol Concert
Monday 6 December | 7.30pm (Doors 7pm) | Free | York Minster
Come and celebrate with the staff and students of York St John University at our annual Christmas Carol Service in the glorious surroundings of York Minster. This year our theme is ‘ Hope and Healing’. There will be exciting performances from our drama, dance and music students, as well as the chance to listen to readings and sing traditional carols. Book your free ticket now.
Centre for Religion and Society: Building Inclusive Communities
Tuesday 14 December | 5pm-6.15pm | Free | Online
Is it possible for everyone to experience a sense of belonging? Why is there an increasing sense of exclusion in many sectors of society? What might it take for us to create inclusive communities? This webinar addresses these questions from various perspectives to highlight instances of exclusion in global development paradigms, in our institutions and in everyday community experiences. The panellists from various cultural backgrounds discuss these issues from their own lived experiences as well as their professional contexts. The webinar also offers some practical ways by which small steps could be taken towards reshaping existing spaces to include citizens in decision-making processes, create equal access to resources while imagining new untapped spaces for inclusive and diverse global development agenda. Book your ticket now.
Upcoming Events
There’s plenty to look forward to in the next two months! As well as this month’s webinar, why not attend one of these fantastic events?
Disability History Month: In Conversation with Alex Heron
Thursday 2 December | 6pm-7pm | Free | Online
To mark York Disability Week, join YSJ alumna and photographer Alex Heron for a conversation about her intensely personal photography project, ‘Breadth: Spanning the Spectrum’, which aims to challenge preconceptions of people living with autism. In conversation with Professor Esther McIntosh (York St John University), Alex will explore what it means to be autistic and how sharing personal stories helps to challenge stigma. Find out more and book your place now.
Japanese Performing Arts Festival
Saturday 4 December | In-person
In early December take part in our exciting Japanese Performing Arts Festival as part of the official Japan Season of Culture. On Saturday 4 December join a morning of hands-on workshops including Taiko drumming, Japanese singing, koto and Tea tastings. In the afternoon, watch a fantastic afternoon of performances from a range of Japanese performing arts.
Find out more about the morning workshops and book your place via Eventbrite. Find out who’s performing in the afternoon, and book your place now.
Mental Health Matters
Last month, we marked World Mental Health Day. The theme this year was ‘Mental health care for all: Let’s make it a reality’. Our Counselling and Mental Health Centre (CMHC) posted a fantastic blog about what the theme meant, top tips for helping our own mental health and general thoughts on the pandemic mental health crisis. You can read the blog on their website.
Our CMHC have also continued their posts about self-care, its importance and easy self-care steps we can all take. These include the importance of focused breathing, connecting with loved ones and learning for enjoyment. They are also beginning their free 10-week emotional support group Cuppa and Conversation in early December. For individuals who feel lonely, want to discover more about themselves and learn how to support their own wellbeing, find out more on their website.
If you’d like to learn more about the importance of mental health provision and how local group Menfulness is working to promote better men’s mental health in York, keep an eye out for our third webinar in January. You can find out more about our webinars on our website.
Lots to Blog About
This month, our blog is going to be busy! We’ll be resharing blogs from some of alumni writers throughout the month and releasing a brand new blog from alumna Amy Stewart. Amy won a Northern Writing Award earlier this year and is currently developing her first short-story collection alongside her PhD. We asked her about her writing, how YSJ gave her the confidence to take her writing seriously and what’s next.
We’ll also be marking World Access to Higher Education Day and Giving Tuesday. Did you know that in the past 11 years, you’ve donated nearly £100, 000 towards our scholarship fund? Now that is something to celebrate! So, from all the students you’ve supported, and your Alumni and Fundraising Team, we’d like to say a big thank you for all of your donations.
In our upcoming blog posts we’ll share more about why students might apply for a scholarship, how your donations help them continue their studies with us and five reasons to donate to our scholarship fund this year.
Keep an eye on our blog and social media channels to read our blogs when they go live.
Celebrating Black History Month
Last month, we celebrated Black History Month. Alongside three fantastic events that you can rewatch on YouTube, Our Students’ Union also created some fantastic content, including a brief timeline of Black History Month in Britain and a must-watch and must-read list.
Our geography department also published a month of blog posts celebrating black landscapes, people, and histories in geography and the environment. Each week they focused a different aspect, such as black landscapes. For example, they posted about Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai and about black American urban landscapes. To find out more, please see their blog.
You can rewatch our fantastic Black History Month events on YouTube.
Graduation
After a year’s delay due to COVID-19, this month we’ll finally be celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2020. With more ceremonies than usual to make them covid-safe, we’ll be seeing quite a few a people in gowns this month! What do you remember most about your graduation ceremony?
Magazine
Last month, we dispatched our annual Alumni Magazine to our UK based alumni. Including information about what’s going on at YSJ, your alumni benefits and what Ripon College was like during World War Two, we hope you enjoyed reading it!
A digital copy will soon be available on our website. Keep an eye on our social media to find out when it goes live.
If you’d like to give us feedback on this year’s magazine, please complete this short form.
Lest We Forget
This month, we will also be marking Remembrance Sunday and Remembrance Day. Our Chapel contains a Roll of Honour commemorating the 84 students and alumni who gave their lives during World War One and the 54 students and alumni who gave their lives during World War Two.
During both World Wars, York St John and Ripon College played vital roles. Although York St John closed in 1916 due to insufficient recruitment, the campus remained open as a Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital and provided a safe place for soldiers to convalesce.
In World War II, Ripon College also played its part. Gardens were dug for victory, students donated blood, raised funds and educated the next generation of children. Alumna Nora attended Ripon College during World War II, you can read about her time there in our blog post, and on page 14 of this year’s magazine.
Today, York St John continues to play its part by hosting courses for professionals to better support our veterans and their families in a range of settings. The Military Human: Understanding Military Culture and Transition’ training sessions provide front line staff in council, community, health and social care and other professions with understanding of armed forces composition and highlight good practice and inequality.
You can find out more about our Military Human work on our website.
Your Career
Last week, you received a careers survey. This survey will help our Careers Team improve our students’ employability and give insight into what you think of our careers provision. It doesn’t matter whether you left in 1951, 1981 or 2021, we’d love to hear how your time studying with us impacted your employability and what you think our Careers Team could do to improve.
The survey takes five minutes to complete and closes on 5 November.
Complete the survey button – https://gradcore.formstack.com/forms/alumni_survey
Looking for a graduate role? Attend our virtual Graduate and Placement Fair on 11 November to talk to a range of employers. Find out more and book your place on LaunchPad Online.
