Faces of Suffolk

Before I started having seizures, I was the model student. I attended all classes, completed all homework and achieved good grades. I was physically active, taking dance classes in ballet, tap, modern, and jazz, as well as being a competitive dinghy sailor and enjoying paddle boardi...

My parents split when I was aged one and a half; my dad wasn’t around much and my mum got primary custody of me. She used to take me to stately homes and National Trust places for days out when I was younger and I realised I enjoyed history. I decided to take it at A Level and I f...

From the moment Erasmus was mentioned, I knew it was something I wanted to. I had been going through a difficult time and I felt like I needed to get away. I applied, never thinking I would actually be accepted as there were only two places. I almost didn’t go; I knew it would be ...

I had my first of six liver transplants when I was months old and the second from a living donor, my mum. The impact of suddenly being told at six weeks that your child has liver disease and having to watch your son, firstborn, go through all this pain and trauma must have been unbe...

I always knew I wanted to work within the care setting. I considered dance, which is very different, but decided on midwifery because everything about pregnancy and how the baby develops really fascinates me. I’ve always found the human body interesting. Midwifery isn’t somethin...

I loved maths; it was all I had wanted to do. I went away to university and started my maths degree but in my first year, I fell ill quite suddenly. I remember the doctor saying to me, ‘we need to get you to hospital’. They couldn’t give me a diagnosis. At first, they thought ...

I’m from Galway in Ireland, and when I first moved to Ipswich, I didn’t really know anyone other than my family. I was a massive loner! That’s why I started training - I wanted something that would occupy my time. Back in Ireland, I was involved with sports all my life. I was ...

I guess you could say I’m not your stereotypical careers adviser. I started speedway racing when I was 8 years old; my dad bought my first junior bike. I was the Ipswich mascot for a few years and we would go to Wimbledon every Wednesday evening so I could ride before and after t...

Since graduating, I’ve been working in homeless prevention helping people from all different walks of life, from victims of domestic abuse to people suffering with mental health problems and addictions. It’s very different to my photography degree. I was volunteering at a homele...

I think it’s safe to say I’m not your stereotypical librarian! I don’t own a cat and I only very rarely say “shush”! ...

I was unhappy in my 9-5 job and I felt very low last year, so I decided to do something about it. I applied to study Event and Tourism Management. I’ve never exactly known what I want to do with my life but I’ve always had an interest in tourism and the events industry. I love t...

In my last year of primary school, we were given a project on mountains. My parents suggested going to my chosen mountain on holiday so we had some ski lessons at the Suffolk dry ski slope. I loved it and from there I got in to the race team and was spotted by the director of the Br...

I’m the Technician for Sport Science at the University; I studied here in 2012 but previously I worked in insurance for 11 years until I was made redundant. I saw the redundancy as a massive opportunity and decided to travel the world for a year, visiting South East Asia (Thailand...

I was in a job that I didn’t 100% enjoy and it wasn’t challenging enough for me, but I didn’t really think about leaving it. It was only when my grandad suddenly passed away that it shocked me into thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. It woke me up in a sense, it m...

I have type 1 diabetes. Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad days. When I get stressed out, it can really affect it. So starting university, coming to a new place and making new friends was quite a stressful time, but it was important to me that I was open about i...

I’ve been a comic book fan since childhood; every time my Mum went shopping she would pick up The Beano and The Dandy. I knew early on that I wanted to do something with comics. I opened up my own comic book store with my friend when I was 25. It started off in my Mum’s attic as...

I really wanted to learn Makaton - children’s sign language. In college, I studied Children’s Care, Learning and Development and we spent two days a week on placement. I worked with this little boy who had autism; I loved him to bits and it’s honestly one of the most rewarding...

I started university in September 2013, excited to begin a new chapter in life. Unfortunately within the first few weeks, something changed. I wasn’t myself. I’d started to retract from myself and others completely. My friends and family were just keeping me afloat of the river ...

I applied for Midwifery but the year before I was due to go, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. I spent five weeks in hospital and had an operation. I was in recovery and started my course in February 2012, but became really unwell again and had to go back in to hospital. ...

I’ve entered the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. Every year it starts at the Canary Islands and you row 3,000 miles to finish in Antigua. They say more people have been in to space and climbed Everest than rowed across the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve been a rower for about two yea...

I’m studying Early Childhood Studies and automatically you think of primary teaching, but I don’t want to be a teacher. I want to travel and set up schools to help people who are less fortunate than us. Sometimes I look at my life and I think yeah, I’ve had it all.  I’ve al...