We take a look at the inspiring stories behind some of our University of Chester graduates.
An evening course in French ended up changing the course of one University of Chester graduate’s entire career.
Emma Woollard, from Weaverham had been working in the Emergency Services as a frontline paramedic since 2002 and had to fit the part-time language class around her busy working life, soon realising she had found her passion, so took the plunge and quit her job to begin a degree in French and beginners Spanish.
Emma found she progressed quickly with the languages and developed a passionate affinity for Spain and all things Spanish, leading her to start a short work-based placement in Costa Rica for six weeks, where she worked in an isolated beach town on a sea turtle conservation project in a rainforest, where she planted trees as part of a conservation project at the University.
As if this wasn’t enough, during her year abroad, Emma taught French at a Spanish high school, where she discovered a love for teaching, so for her French placement, she undertook an internship at the World Trade Organisation in Switzerland in the interpreting department.
But it wasn’t until her final year that started to combine her passions and started her own business - The Language Guys - whilst studying, commuting and working as a gardener at the university.
Related: All you need to know about the 2015 University of Chester Graduations
It’s an online platform for learning languages, specialising in English and Spanish tuition where clients learn languages from native speakers using video link. Emma has plans to offer French and Italian in the near future and other languages in the future, describing it as ‘the modern way’ to learn a language.
Emma said: “I’ve worked throughout my degree and it has been very difficult trying to balance my studies, working and travelling and starting my own business. However, I have graduated with a 2:1 in French and Spanish with a distinction for my spoken Spanish and am really pleased with this result and it proves that it is possible to work and study and achieve good results.”
Now working hard to establish her business, Emma is also offering language tuition at the university’s Riverside Innovation Centre where she is based, the profits of which go towards a social project she has set up in Mexico.
“Learning to speak different languages at the University has enabled me to travel, experience different countries and cultures and make friends from all over the world.
I can now communicate in several languages and my passion for languages has not ended; I’m currently learning Chinese at the University and hope to start Brazilian Portuguese next.
“The support I received helped me to gain the skills to progress my business and the motivation to keep learning languages,” she added.
Two other people who know all about juggling studying with a full time job are new doctors Dr Anna Mackenzie and Dr Nicci Banks.
Both achieved their doctorates whilst carrying full workloads, and also volunteering at the university, working late into the evening and weekends, and sometimes even during the night.
They both now work as members of staff at the university - Nicci as a Research and Development Officer in the Student Support and Guidance Department and Anna in the Vice Chancellor’s office.
She said: “I have been exceptionally fortunate to work for and with people who are immensely supportive of what I was doing, and that has been just invaluable.”
And the fundraising efforts of three midwifery graduates mean that expectant mothers in Cheshire will benefit from state-of-the-art monitoring equipment when in labour.
While working as student midwives, Rebecca Ireland, Lorna Sidebottom and Helen Ward dedicated much of their spare time to raising £7,000 which went towards the cost of buying new equipment for the maternity ward, including wireless fetal heart monitors, to allow women more freedom and movement in labour.
They held countless fundraisers, in the meantime developing their passion for providing top care for women and their families through their BSc midwifery programme.
