Sheila Boyle
BA Design
Why FVC:
I attended Cumbernauld College 2005-2006 and did a number of units from their NC Art and Design Course with a view to building a portfolio of work, and not sure of how far it would take me. Whilst there, I decided to apply for higher courses. I had thought the GSA Visual Communications BA was the only degree course that was within reasonable travelling distance. Travel time was significant as I have three children to drop and collect from school/afterschool care each day. My tutor recommended that I apply for the BA Design at FVC. I had been unaware at that stage that FVC offered Degree Level, Design based study.
I had a look through the course content and it looked very interesting, although to be frank I had no real concept of what was to be expected until I started the course!
Favourite Moment:
Too many to mention! Waking up virtually everyday for the last three years and enjoying doing what I do and never being bored! Photographing Barcelona at Dawn with my fantastic group of college friends was a particular favourite moment.
Chosen Career:
I would like to work in a design based/marketing and communications environment and am currently putting my portfolio together to apply for positions in these areas. Further to this, I would like to tutor at FE level, again, I am pursuing possibilities in this area. I would like to take on some further study, Post Graduate or Masters, at some point in the future - once I've recouped financially. Finally, I intend to further develop some personal design projects which I hope to eventually market.
Expected:
I expected it to be a small community within the college, and that turned out to be the case. With the college running one or two classes per year/specialism, it quickly felt comfortable and familiar.
Unexpected:
I didn't expect as much one to one contact with tutors - I felt this was a big advantage over other institutions. I was also surprised by the amount of mature students on the course. There was a very good spread of mature students and under 25s, which I felt benefitted everyone. I didn't expect to have as much fun!
