Class of 2012
After leaving Joseph Swan (Now Grace College), I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. I knew I loved electronic music, so when I was 17, I took a BTEC Level 3 in Music Technology and really enjoyed it. From there, I went on to get a BA Honours in Contemporary Popular Music, whilst also working some casual part-time jobs and volunteering.
Because of my studies, I had thought about working as a sound engineer or sound designer – the music industry is notoriously difficult to get in to and generally requires you to have multiple streams of income.
As part of the last year of our course, I had do a module of teaching and found that I really enjoyed teaching small groups – so after I finished my Level 5, I started my teacher training at Cedar Academy, specialising in Learning Difficulties and Disabilities. I’m disabled myself, so I natural lean towards working with and for disabled people. I completed my teacher training and worked as a Teaching Assistant for two years working with students with all kinds of different disabilities.
In that time, I also created an online and in-person space for discussing matters surrounding disability called “Let’s Discuss Disability”. I simply started by sharing my own story, which lead to me being asked to write for a handful of different disability non-profits and to Let’s Discuss Disability becoming a month-long art exhibition and a day conference, which I hosted.
I absolutely loved doing this; it created a collaborative learning space for both disabled and non-disabled people to create a more accessible world, which is pretty awesome.
The first time I shared my story about living with Spina Bifida was actually in an English lesson at Grace College, which was unbelievably nerve wracking. Although I’m pretty sure it was only in front of about 8 people – and there was somebody asleep on the back desk.
Last year, I decided to take up a job at a recruitment charity helping ex-offenders back in to paid work with a charity called The Recruitment Junction. I’d not really recovered from an injury relating to my disability so a Teaching Assistant job with younger children that were quite active wasn’t really working for me. I worked there for a couple of months and really enjoyed it.
Now, I’m newly married and looking for a new job – preferably a writing job. I’ve always loved writing in any form and I’ve been told (probably since Grace College) by teachers, college lecturers, friends and my now wife that I should go into some form of writing or journalism. It’s only taken me until the ripe of old age of 26 to even attempt that! So, here’s to new challenges and the unknown!
But, whatever I do, I’ll be grateful that I get to do it.
In my most recent job, I worked as a recruitment consultant. The aim of the job was to get people with convictions in their past, whether they’d had a minor conviction from years ago or had just recently been released from prison, back into paid work. I loved this, because people are worthy of second chances and new beginnings.
I’d start with coffee and prayer. I’m a Christian and The Recruitment Junction is a Christian organisation, so naturally we started with Jesus and caffeine.
Then I’d ring around my candidates for the day (ex-offenders) to see that they were still okay and still attending. This was important because after prison, a lot of our candidates were apprehensive due to negative experiences, either in prison or in their life. The majority of them also had a lack of self belief and receiving a positive, inviting and friendly phone call on the day of their appointment could have a huge impact.
Then, until my first appointment, I’d work on CV’s or disclosures for candidates. This sounds quite dull, but it was actually one of my favourite parts. Firstly, because I love writing and using words, but also because I was able to take a candidates CV that was previously unflattering and make it into something that they could look at and be proud of.
Some candidates who either had been out of employment because a long spell in prison or ill mental health were able to see on paper just how much they’d achieved! It’s a massive boost of confidence for them and a part of the process I loved.
Then, I’d have meetings with my candidates. These could be men and women who had received minor cautions and had not long been out of work, or they could be someone who’d spent years in and out of prison. I’d make them a coffee or tea to make them feel comfortable and we’d get to work on trying to find them a job. I loved this part of the job – through coaching and encouragement, I was able to show candidates just how valuable they were.
Essentially, all day, my job was to believe in people who, somewhere along the way, had lost belief in themselves.
That was awesome.
My goal for the future is to work in a career that enables me to flourish in every area of my life – as a husband, as a father, as a son and as a friend. That suits my physical needs and best utilises the way I’m wired. As I’ve mentioned, I’m naturally more geared towards creativity and writing. So whether it’s writing CV’s, online journalism, funding bids for charities or being someone’s personal assistant and creatively organising their time – I’ll put my hands to it.
But like I said, your job isn’t your only “work”. So it’s also important to me that my job allows me to be a good and present husband, father, friend and son.
I would also love to have my writing published. But if it impacts just one person or helps a greater vision within an organisation, that’ll do.
I could say I wished that I’d believed in myself earlier to actually use the skills in me that were innate – like creative writing.
But, by doing lots of things that either haven’t worked or that I’ve realised aren’t quite for me, I’ve learnt about myself. And I’m still learning.
Firstly, it’s okay not to know. Whether you’re 16 and preparing for GCSE’s; or 18 and nearing the end of A-level studies; or even if you’re a 26 year-old who trained as a teacher, became a recruitment consultant and is now attempting to become a writer!
I’m going to say it if no one else will – you don’t have to have it all figured out. I don’t and I’m the most content I’ve ever been. Some of you will have it figured all out and will have known what you wanted to do since you were very young, that’s great.
Some of you, have a vague idea of what you’d like to try – go for it. Some of you have no idea, that’s also okay. Those who aren’t sure, you do not have to be like the person who has it all figured out. Start where you’re at.
If you’re really not sure, ask your friends, your family, your caregivers and those close to you some questions and ask yourself.
– What gets me out of bed in the morning?
– What am I passionate about?
– What interests me?
– What am I good at?
– What kind of person am I? Am I creative? Am I caring? Do I have great attention to detail? Am I better at looking at the bigger picture and strategising?
– What do you see in me?
Those are some baseline questions. If you’re really struggling, try something – volunteer at a school; apply for an apprenticeship at a salon; look for some work experience at a zoo or wildfire centre. Try a few different things and see what stokes a fire in you.
Contrary to popular belief and what Instagram tells you, you don’t have to have reached the top of your profession by age 25, have it all figured out and have a picture perfect life. You also might be really talented at doing someone’s hair and makeup and not so talented at English Literature or vice-versa; Or great with practical tasks and not so great at Maths – that’s okay. Some people are academically wired, some people are practically wired and some are artistically wired.
Apply yourself as much as you can in school, try your best and be okay with being you – whether you’re a mathematician, a make-up specialist, a poet or a mechanic. Don’t compare yourself – that’s a pointless exercise. You’re you. Be you. Also, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
Yes. I have limitations.
People will tell you “the sky is the limit”. It’s great to have aspirations and dreams – don’t stop dreaming or aspiring, but we all have limitations. That’s an important message you won’t hear from inspirational speakers – it’s not that “inspiring” but it’s freeing.
My dad worked at Nissan and has always been brilliant at practical, hard-labour.
I’ve had Spina Bifida since I was born and my body gets tired easier, I’ve had lots of operations and parts of my body breakdown occasionally. It would be a bit unwise for me to do a manual labour job that is hard on my body.
When I was a Teaching Assistant, I learnt that being on my feet constantly after an injury didn’t let me recover and just led me to being tired and burnt out after work. I needed a job where I could manage how much I was on my feet.
In an office job, I was able to get up when I needed to exercise and then have energy after work and on weekends to walk, do things I enjoy and spend time with my now wife without being bone-achingly tired.
Learning to accept that a physically demanding job wasn’t really suited for me was really freeing – it allowed me to enjoy the rest of my life and because of that, it now actually allows me to work better.
It also allows me to be attentive to my wife and to my friends that need me when they’re struggling with life, which is also important work. This was a hard lesson to learn through burnout, but a job must work for you also.