This week saw the launch of Humanities Week, a collaboration between the Classics, English, History, Politics, R.S. and Geography Departments. Building on the success of the humanities careers event last year, the week offered a whole host of activities to inspire students who are passionate about pursuing humanities as a future path.
The theme of the week was ‘What have the humanities ever done for me?’ and the programme included: an assembly delivered by the Upper Sixth to younger students; a whole week of student-led society takeovers; a visit from performance poet Y.A in LitSoc, who also judged our Poetry Prize; and alumnus Fergus Corrigan talking to students about lavender farming and the impact of climate change on agriculture in the Trinity Community Garden. In the middle of this busy week, we also hosted our second Future Pathways: Learning from Alumni event.
Six Trinity alumni, pictured above and all with degrees in humanities subjects, were invited to share their experiences and participate in a Q&A session: Harry Carlisle, Assistant Producer, Head of Politics, and Commissioning Editor at the IAI; Vanessa Upton, Senior Consultant at Deloitte Human Capital; Kishan Dandiker, Digital Marketing Executive at Xanda; Rachel Hammond, Solicitor at Fragomen; Hugo Ricca, Paralegal and Future Trainee Solicitor at Bates Wells; and Harry Stoneham, Associate at Savills Real Estate. The session was chaired by Mr Jack Paterson, Assistant Head of Futures and Teacher of Classics and approximately 50 students from the Fourth Year and above attended.
The alumni spoke of the value of pursuing subjects they were passionate about at A Level and at university, the breadth of job opportunities that humanities degrees can open up, and the benefits these subjects can give young people in the workplace, from having the skill and confidence to express oneself clearly, to developing critical thinking skills, to coming across as an interesting individual to employers in an interview situation.
Harry Carlisle emphasised the importance of life skills, encouraging students not to be put off from applying for roles even if they do not meet every criterion in the job description. Rachel Hammond and Kishan Dandiker shared their experiences of working and studying abroad, agreeing that it boosted their confidence in meeting new people and pushed them out of their comfort zones. Harry Stoneham encouraged students to seek work experience, while Kishan and Rachel underscored the importance of leveraging personal networks, from the Trinity alumni network and family and friends networks, to professional platforms like LinkedIn.
Miss Van Dal, Head of Classics, said, “it is helpful for our students to see that humanities subjects can serve as a springboard to a wide range of interesting careers. Another thing that rang true was that some of the alumni landed upon the idea for their chosen career a few years after they had left school, and were successful in securing jobs in their chosen fields, regardless”.
Will, Lower Sixth student who is taking Classical Civilisation, English, Mathematics, and Economics A Levels said, “The event showed me how being passionate about your chosen area is a really valid route to success in the workplace and therefore I feel that doing subjects I enjoy is the best pathway to being fulfilled and happy.”
With many thanks to our alumni for their time and valuable insights. Thanks to the efforts of Mrs Lewis, Alumni Relations Manager, our alumni regularly return to school to share their experiences and inspire current students.
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