Hometown: Manchester
Course: Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
Career: Business Lecturer at Truro College
My Story:
Amy came to the University Centre after her BA (hons) English and MSc Entrepreneurship degrees to complete her Postgraduate Certificate in Education. Having always considered teaching as a career path, she originally wanted to focus on gaining industry experience and having worked in marketing roles for an Engineering firm, a copywriting company and setting up her own business, she decided it was time to start her teaching journey.
Staying local was important to Amy as her family had followed her down to Cornwall after she had relocated to study her Undergraduate degree and Masters at Falmouth University. Having grown up visiting Cornwall regularly, she always knew she would want to live here and once she did, she didn’t want to have to travel further afield to gain her teaching qualification.
The business that Amy set up was Purpose 3D, is a company that builds Digital 3D models of Vintage and Historical clothing for Commercial purpose and digital download. Amy passionately explained how their work isn’t just about capturing the beauty of garments but also serving as a lifeline for pieces on the brink of disintegration. Her team worked closely with prestigious institutions like Penlee House Gallery, Royal Cornwall Museum and Bodmin Keep.
She explained: “The business that I started was as an independent business, which went really well. The idea came from the textiles department saying they had lots of things they weren’t sure what to do with and it just became a passion project. The business is still running, but as it was part of Falmouth Universities Launchpad scheme, we gave it back to the University when we graduated. We still have involvement, but it’s great that other students can now continue to grow it.”
Talking about her journey to teaching and experience, Amy said: “I struggled at school and the teachers that helped me were the ones that had experience, so that they could relate it to real life outside of the classroom and that was a teacher that I wanted to be.”
“I have known I wanted to teach this age group since I did work experience in a primary school, I knew that wasn’t the right route for me, but I still wanted to teach. I have always enjoyed being part of that time where people are working out what to do next and you can help with that.”
After doing her PGCE placement at Penwith, Amy gained experience teaching English and took on the challenge of teaching Philosophy as prior qualifications enabled her to do so, talking about her experience, she said: “Penwith was a lovely environment to teach in, it’s a beautiful campus and the team are brilliant, everyone works together and it’s close knit. It gave me a lot of experience too in different departments and with different members of the team.”
“I’m proud of myself for taking on the Philosophy at Penwith, it wasn’t something I thought I would be involved in especially in PGCE year, but I took the opportunity and was grateful for it. I had to relearn things from my Alevel and doing that alongside my PGCE was hard, but I’m so glad I did it.”
Amy’s advice to future students is: “Think about the skills you are gaining in any experience you take on, whatever role you are in your gaining skills that are transferable. Treat whatever you’re doing as part of your journey, you will be surprised what things help you when it comes to teaching! A positive mindset regarding your learning is really important and whatever your doing is not wrong.
Amy has now started her teaching career, working as a lecturer in the business team at Truro College and is thriving being able to build students confidence and pass on her own industry knowledge.
