Thriving in supportive environments
English graduate, Nayah Patel, talks about the support Loughborough offered and how studying English develops transferable, creative skills required for career success.
Studying English gives you a wide range of interchangeable skills that will help you pursue your passions and opens up a breadth of career opportunities. Graduate of our English BA, Nayah Patel explains how the support from Loughborough helped her overcome her initial fears and provided her with the assistance she needed to flourish in her studies and channel her creative talents into the corporate world.
Nayah, who has a passion for writing, is now a Content and SEO executive and writes copy for a wide range of popular fashion, beauty, and food & drink brands. Her written blogs and articles are often published publicly onto live platforms for wider audiences to read.
I love my current role and I am able to write effectively and quickly because of the practice I had during my English degree. It was always my goal to be able to write and now I am able to do that thanks to my studies
Supportive learning environment
Prior to starting her degree, Nayah was fearful about moving far from home and knew she would need a supportive environment to ensure she felt comfortable during her time at university.
I had a lot of support from the English department. All the lecturers were friendly and approachable. I have arthritis and the university were great about it. I was given a room that catered for my needs; it was ground floor, close to my lecture rooms and I was provided with a fridge for my medication. Moving to university two hours away from home was scary enough; knowing I had a disability made it harder. Loughborough provided me with everything I needed to make it easier.
Dr Claire O'Callaghan in particular was a lecturer that was firstly great at teaching but also was kind and welcoming. I was able to go to her and discuss both work and personal problems and she happily helped me through it. This made a big difference to the whole university experience.
Passion for Bollywood
Studying English at Loughborough allowed Nayah to combine her interests in Bollywood with her studies. She had the freedom to complete her dissertation on Evolving representations of disability in Bollywood Cinema 1960-2020.
My dissertation gave me the chance to write something independently. I was able to research, write and edit my own piece. I found the topic so interesting and was able to learn something outside of the curriculum!
Alongside her studies, Nayah was part of the Asian Society where she helped run social events. During second year, in her role as Entertainment Coordinator, she even ran her own Bollywood dance class where she taught weekly classes.
Since graduating
Since graduation, Nayah has put her written communication skills to good use.
I found a job fairly quickly after graduating, working for a translation company. I am now working as a Content and SEO Executive for a company specialising in cashback and vouchers.
She explained the benefits of her degree and how it has aided her in producing high standards of work.
Writing, was the main skill I’ve found most useful, having to complete 3500 word essays on a topic for a deadline allowed me to practice writing. I am now able to write quickly which helps with my job and meeting deadlines. Reading too, we were covering a book a week for 3 modules at a time. We had to read and take in information; I am now a fast reader and can absorb information quicker. Staying organised, communication and time management. These are core skills we need throughout life and my degree helped practice all of these. Having to balance the different modules, lectures, essay writing and reading, this is something that I use in everyday life and in my job.
Nayah has some advice for prospective undergraduates interested in studying English:
I would recommend it, I enjoyed everything about it and wish I could do it all over again. The 100% coursework element was a great part of it, I found exams very stressful, and this gave me a chance to showcase my skills in a calmer more controlled environment. The modules are great and there is something for everyone and even the ones you may be worried about initially, you will end up enjoying, the lecturers are very good at making material interesting and you will always learn something new.
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