Callum Milligan (22) from Kippen who graduated with a BA Art and Design, was presented with the Most Inspirational Student in the Department of Creative, Digital & Leisure Industries award at the Forth Valley College 2024 graduation ceremony.
He worked his way up from the SCOTS programme, NC Media, to NC and HND Photography at the College, before graduating with his degree. He said: “I chose to study at Forth Valley College because I decided to leave school at 16, just little over a year after finishing the SCOTS programme, and I knew that the college was the perfect place for me.
“The lecturers are brilliant and have always have been more than happy to help out whether that be with coursework or with anything outside of that. As for the facilities they are excellent. Everything from the workshop with its wide range of equipment, to the photography studio, which is where I spent most of my time over the last five years studying, have been great. Another place I spent a lot of time in especially this year, was the print studio, using the facilities in there for developing film and printing images out using many different methods and equipment. And I can’t forget the brilliant technicians, Trevor and Alex, as well as Neil the print technician, they have all been great.
“My experience studying at the College has been excellent from the beginning. This has helped me in narrowing down what I wanted to study over the years starting out on NC Media, to the HND photography, to finally the BA Art and Design, and I think this has allowed me to grow up and learn valuable lessons throughout the journey.
“I would say that it has benefited me by helping me to build my confidence in myself and the type of work that I produce. It has also helped me to build strong relationships with friends and lecturers that allow me to be able to realize my full potential.
“I would recommend the College as it’s not your massive university scale place, it’s nice it’s smaller and compact and it has everything you need to spend more time with your lecturers and the benefits from this are unmatched in my opinion.
“The best bit for me has got to be all the work I have produced and made that people have commented on saying how good it is, as this is something I’m still getting used to hearing. It was and always will be, the best part of making work. Another great part has been the people I have met along the way, hey have supported me throughout it all. The food of course has also bee great and the Creative Industries corridor cleaners who always said ‘good morning’ when I arrived at 7:45am every day I was in, set my day off to a good start.
“I would also recommend it because the facilities and the staff are excellent, the community within the College is unmatched anywhere and you really feel like you belong there.”