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As she reflects on her time at SRC Bede Sixth Form, Leanne is “grateful for how much the experience prepared her for studying at university”.

Now that she’s at Newcastle University studying English Literature with Creative Writing, Leanne has been able to draw on the skills and knowledge she gained at Bede to help with her degree.


"I was nervous about choosing a different college to most of my friends, but once I started I didn’t look back."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She’s really glad that she chose Newcastle – her lecturers have been really helpful and she is greatly enjoying the course. Surprisingly, she said, she’s preferred the creative writing aspect of the degree, finding that it has helped her “grow in her writing style” overall. She has even had a go at some drama (something her younger self would never have imagined doing!) She was nervous at first, but pulled it off and enjoyed the experience in the end.

Leanne, a former student of Our Lady & St Bede Catholic Academy, has studied some really interesting texts so far on her degree – “the course is really diverse and covers a range of genres and eras”. When her class was reviewing ancient pieces of text, her experience from studying Classical Civilisations at Bede really helped her to understand the cultural context and different meanings expressed. She also found her knowledge from History came in handy – when asked to analyse texts from the 1920s she had “a good understanding of the background that the authors were writing from”.

Leanne chose to study at Bede as it was the college that she “felt most comfortable at” when she visited, and when thinking about things she might change if she could do it all again, the only thing she could think of was to be more confident in sharing her thoughts and being more outspoken in class.

For those who are thinking about studying at Bede, Leanne’s advice is: “Think about what you want out of your course – check through the course descriptions and chat with the staff and students at Bede. Be open to meeting new people – I was nervous about choosing a different college to most of my friends, but once I started I didn’t look back.”

Looking to the future, Leanne still wants to be a writer – her degree has shown her that it is tougher than she originally realised, but working with things like tight deadlines has helped her learn how to overcome writer’s block. Her inspirational authors are Amiri Baraka, Adrienne Rich, Grace Nichols (all of which her creative writing lead introduced her to), and Jackie Kay, who teaches at Newcastle.

Her advice to any aspiring writers is: “Read a lot! Don’t take criticism to heart – learn from it instead. Don’t be afraid to seek help when you need it, and review each other’s work – peer review helps to build confidence in yourself.”

We’re certain that we’ll see Leanne’s name published on books in the future, and can’t wait to see where her creative journey takes her.




Are you thinking about studying English, Classical Civilisation, or History at SRC Bede? Find out more on our website, or come along to one of our open evenings:

 
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