Emily Withers

I left Leasowes in 2015 with a great set of GCSE grades that I had worked really hard for, moving on to study at King Edward VI College Stourbridge. My A Level grades got me in to Cardiff University, where I enrolled in September 2017.

My love of English started at a young age and came with me to Cardiff, where I studied BA English Literature and History. I graduated last year with a 2:1 despite the pandemic causing my last few months to take place over Zoom.

While on my undergraduate course, I published a book which I had written alongside my A Levels. I also came second in the Read Foundation’s national writing competition in 2018.

Last September, I started my postgraduate studies on MA News Journalism, choosing to stay in Cardiff due to its excellent track record for journalism. This course will give me the qualifications I need to succeed as a journalist, and I have already passed my shorthand exams. I can now write 100 words per minute, which means I can report in court and take down quotes over the phone.

While at university, I started building up a CV of work experience. In total, I did 8 different placements, each proving to be more valuable than the last. I have written articles for the university newspaper, as well as the national welsh publication WalesOnline, and local newspaper the South Wales Argus. I also write for an arts and culture website called The Indiependent.

I believe that it is important to work hard and make your own way, which is why I have always had a part-time job. Since I left Leasowes back in 2015, I have worked as a swimming teacher so that I could afford to study without depending on my parents or others to pay for my rent.

Looking forward, I hope to work for a national news organisation. I finish my master’s in August, and I hope to find a full-time job where I can write about what interests me. Without my foundation at Leasowes, I would not have been able to take those next steps towards my career. I cannot emphasise enough how useful I have found it over the last 6 years to have those skills of organisation, self-reliance and perseverance.