Tag: alumni

Alumni Volunteering goes online!

Andy Stirups, from Birkbeck’s Development and Alumni Team, talks about how the alumni volunteering programmes are adapting to life online

I think it’s fair to say that the rate at which our lives have significantly changed over the last few weeks has caught everyone off guard. As we adapt to a world of social distancing, virtual coffees and staying at home, the way in which alumni are helping and support our student community has also changed to ensure that we can continue the great work that we have been doing.  

Pictured: Birkbeck’s four main volunteering programmes. Over 300 individuals typically volunteer each year.

Just before the Coronavirus pandemic, we were about to start up our Get Talking programme for this year. Get Talking pairs alumni with a prospective student or Foundation Year student, to chat through any concerns they may have before starting or continuing with university. These meetings have largely taken place in a coffee shop close to Birkbeck, but over the last couple of years we’ve also been, somewhat helpfully given the current climate, trialling these meetings over Skype for prospective students outside of London or those with access restrictions. We found that last year, meetings over Skype were just as successful as those which were conducted face-to-face. All Get Talking meetings for this year, will now take place via video call to ensure that we are still able to run this important programme and so that prospective students can still gain an invaluable insight from someone who has gone through the Birkbeck journey.  

Similarly, our Mentoring Pathways programme has also gone online. Mentoring Pathways sees alumni and individuals from some of our corporate partners matched with final year students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level so they can help these students with their career decisions as they approach the end of their Birkbeck degree. Over the course of the academic year, we’d expect mentors and mentees to meet six times. The remaining meetings are now due to take place online and we look forward to hearing feedback from our mentors and mentees in due course. 

And our Careers Clinic programme, where alumni review CVs and conduct mock interviews, is also in the process of moving to the virtual world, so watch this space! 

We recognise that these are not just potentially anxious times for our students, but also for our alumni community. Although the Development and Alumni Team are working from home for the time being, we are more than happy to have a chat with you at any point so do not hesitate to get in touch. 

With all that is currently going on in the world I want to thank our volunteers for being so flexible and supportive. More than ever, your work is incredibly vital, and we truly appreciate your levels of commitment to Birkbeck and its community. 

You can contact Andy Stirups at a.stirups@bbk.ac.uk, or if you would like to speak to the Development and Alumni team more generally, please email alumni@bbk.ac.uk  

Alumni Profile: Regan Leahy, MSc Development Studies 2018

Regan Leahy chose to come to Birkbeck in 2015 after being recommended the course in MSc Development Studies. Originally, she had intended to pursue a law career, having undertaken a position at international law firm Hogan Lovells in 2013 and established a career path in the firm. In understanding the growing overlap in corporate social responsibility and development, Regan decided to combine her skills and interests, both personal and professional, to undertake further study.

In July 2019, Regan was selected as the first ever UK SDG Pioneer winner and then went on become the global winner for advocacy and sustainable solutions, both awarded by the UN Global Compact Network.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set by the United Nations Development Programme in 2015 as a global call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and to ensure peace and prosperity for the year 2030.

Regan took the time to talk more to us about coming to Birkbeck, her recent achievement and some advice for those considering a similar path.

What did you enjoy most about Birkbeck and what it offered you as a student?

I really enjoyed the diverse groups of people in my classes. It made the classroom discussions and debates more interesting to have a wider variety of people with backgrounds in industry, academia, and the third sector. I also enjoyed the methodology of the classes I took where we started at the beginning to get back into the academic mind-set. I had only been out of academic study for a few years so remembered how to read and analyse, but I thought it was so clever the way our assignments were structured to help us get back into the swing of things.  

How did the volunteer programme contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN?

Barefoot Futures is Hogan Lovells’ global skills-based volunteering programme that inspires young people to take SDG-related action in their local community. The workshop is delivered by volunteers from Hogan Lovells to students in schools all over the world and seeks to raise awareness about the SDGs and innovative solutions by introducing students to the Barefoot solar mamas of Barefoot College and how young people can use STEM solutions to achieve the goals. Over 195 volunteers have taught 1,400 students in 31 schools in 12 countries and 87% of students agreed they would like to develop new solutions to global problems in the future.

What are the challenges that you face and what advice can you give to students considering similar career paths?

The intersection of development and business is only growing and business and NGOs will require experts with knowledge on both topics. As with the SDGs, collaboration is key and different industries, sectors, and organisations need to use their skills, people, and influence to create sustainable change. The challenge is showing different stakeholders that this is what the world needs and showing them how they can help. Businesses need to widen their measures of success and NGOs need to create engagement opportunities for businesses that are more than just financial. For students considering similar career paths, I’d recommend getting out into the world and networking! The best collaborations and uses of my degree have come from meeting different people and figuring out how to bring them all together under a shared vision and project.

It’s fantastic that you have inspired so many students. To round it off, did you want to say whether you are optimistic about the future and that these kinds of partnerships and business can broadly be a key solution to the world’s problems?

I’m happy to say that I am optimistic about the future. Young people in the world today are not shying away from tackling complex, global issues that are affecting their local communities. From plastic use to gun violence, young people want to live in a world that reflects their values and I’m delighted that the private and third sectors are collaborating to give young people and the adults who works for them the opportunity to use their voices, talents, and influence to build the world we want.

Hogan Lovells partner with Birkbeck to ensure prospective students are not deterred from studying law on account of their financial situation. Their generous scholarship programme supports two talented students in Birkbeck’s School of Law

Mentoring Pathways: Reflection of a Mentor

Written by Anna Wesson (Occupational Psychology, 2012)

“Why do you want to be a mentor? Do you know what’s involved?”

These were the words that echoed in my head as I went into the training for the Mentoring Pathways programme. The blunt answer was no. I had some fuzzy ideas about making a difference, but beyond that, I wasn’t clear about what to expect.

As an alumnus of Birkbeck, I have first-hand experience of the magic of the place. The Master’s course I completed in 2012 overhauled my life, causing me to alter my perspective on myself and my career. For me, there was one piece missing. Going through the educational process, I wanted the opportunity to explore how to embed my learning into my life.

Fast forward six years, and I came across the mentoring programme by accident. I realised that this was my opportunity to support someone having an experience like mine all those years ago.

Mentoring was a fascinating experience and one with unexpected consequences. In working with my mentee, I was forced to get clear on my story, why I had made the choices I made, what served me, and what I would counsel against. It forced me to get under the skin of some of the commercial decisions I have made and justify them, which I really enjoyed.

My mentee and I spent time discussing her academic work, and in that, I discovered new writers and texts, and enriched my practice in unexpected ways.

I had expected to enjoy supporting a student in a way that allowed them to think about things differently. What I had not expected was the breadth of learning for me and the richness that it offered.

I can wholeheartedly recommend being part of the mentoring programme. As well as being run exceptionally smoothly, it offers a development opportunity for both mentors and mentees. I strongly encourage you to sign up next year.

–Anna Wesson is an executive coach, working with emerging leaders in professional services.

The Mentoring Pathways programme offers Birkbeck graduates and corporate partners the opportunity to mentor a current Birkbeck undergraduate or postgraduate finalist.

The programme aims to support students’ career aspirations and expose them to professional networks, by bridging the gap between academic learning and workplace practices.

Applications have opened for the Mentoring Pathways 2019/20 intake, find out more about becoming a mentor.

Alumni Help to Secure Birkbeck’s Future

Many alumni and supporters choose to help secure Birkbeck’s future by remembering the College in their wills. No matter their size, gifts in wills make an enormous difference to the College and to students who may otherwise be unable to continue their studies. Every year, more than 2,000 deserving students receive bursaries to help pay for books, travel, childcare and other study expenses. Much of this support comes from gifts in wills.

This spring, Birkbeck students spoke to more than 300 alumni about the positive impact that gifts in wills have on the College. The students had the opportunity to thank alumni who have already remembered Birkbeck in their wills and to share information with those who are considering giving in this way. The callers shared stories of students like Helen Dunbar and Željka Oparnica who both received financial assistance to study at Birkbeck from gifts in wills. This support made a huge difference to both Helen and Željka.

Helen Dunbar and her son Max enjoying Graduation 2018

As Helen shares, ‘Without the scholarship, it would have been impossible for me to finance my studies. The Scholarship enabled me to achieve my goal of postgraduate study and push myself to a higher level of academic study’.

Kara McMahon, Trusts & Legacies Officer at Birkbeck, was delighted by the success of the campaign. ‘Gifts in will make a tremendous difference to individual students here at Birkbeck, and it is a pleasure to work with growing numbers of alumni who choose to support Birkbeck with gifts in their wills. I often speak with alumni who tell me how Birkbeck changed their lives, and they want to make sure that future generations of students have these same opportunities and experiences. The telephone campaign has been a wonderful chance for our current Birkbeck students to hear these stories and say thank you’.

You may also want to hear from alumnus Malcolm on his decision to remember Birkbeck in his will:

If you would like to know more about leaving a gift in your will to Birkbeck, please get in touch with our team by calling Kara McMahon on 020 7380 3187 or emailing k.mcmahon@bbk.ac.uk.

Alumni Profile: Amer Anwar (MA, Creative Writing)

Amer Anwar graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck in 2010. His recent novel Brothers in Blood was featured in The Times Books of the Year 2018, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2018, Crime Time Best of the Year and was the winner of The CWA Debut Dagger award. We spoke to Amer about his time at Birkbeck and what he’s been up to since graduating…

Photo by Steven Joyce

Your time at Birkbeck…

I had a great experience at Birkbeck. I started out doing an Introduction to Writing Fiction course through Hammersmith & Fulham Adult Education. It was my first attempt at writing fiction since the beginning of high school and I really enjoyed it. The course was Birkbeck affiliated and the tutor said, if anyone wanted to pursue it further, to apply to Birkbeck, which offered a range of further Creative Writing courses. That’s exactly what I did, enrolling on a 2 year, Certificate in Creative Writing (which is now the BA Creative Writing, I believe) and then onto the MA Creative Writing too. It was in the second year of the Certificate Course, when I’d chosen to continue with Fiction, rather than the Poetry or Drama options that were also available, that I wrote and workshopped the first chapter of my novel – the chapter that would go on to win the CWA Debut Dagger and secure me a literary agent.

Throughout my time at Birkbeck, I was working full-time, so there was no way I would’ve been able to do a normal full-time course or even a part-time one that required a full day or two at university, so the fact that Birkbeck offers such excellent courses that are available in the evenings, was essential for me to be able to fulfil my ambitions. And I really loved everything about it. The standard of teaching was second to none and the breadth of age and experience in the classes meant that there was a much more diverse range of fellow students to learn from and with. The whole atmosphere was informal and comfortable but everyone was there to learn and work, which was a very enriching experience. It was also fun and enlightening to socialise after class and talk about writing and books with everyone. All in all, it was a fantastic experience.

Your experience since leaving…

Life since graduating from Birkbeck with an MA in Creative Writing has been a bit of a rollercoaster. All through the MA, I was working full-time, studying part-time and also working on finishing a novel. As I was already working on the novel when I started on the MA, everything I learned was geared towards helping me write and complete it, so I was very focused on what I wanted from the course. Even after I graduated, I took everything I’d learned and applied it directly to my work. I continued to learn and tried to improve as a writer.

After I left Birkbeck, I was very focused on finishing the novel. It took 8 years, all told, to finally finish it, and then a further 2 years to land a publishing deal. My debut novel, Brothers in Blood, was published in September 2018 and I am currently working on a follow-up, which is due out at the end of 2019.

Brothers in Blood by Amer Anwar was published in September 2018 and is available to buy on Amazon.

Alumni wisdom…

General advice would be, if you’re thinking about undertaking a further course of study around a full-time job, seriously consider applying to Birkbeck. That’s exactly what it’s set up for and it will be such a rewarding experience – academically, personally and socially.

For Creative Writing students especially, I’d say, have an idea of what you want to get from the course when you go into it. That way you can gear your learning towards helping you realise your end goal. For myself, it was to write a crime thriller. I knew that from the outset and so I was able to use everything I learned on the course to further my progress with that novel. In the longer term, finish your first draft. It’ll be hard and a long slog at times, but once you finish it, whatever shape it’s in, you’ll have a complete draft of a novel. That’s a real accomplishment. Once you have that, you can edit and improve it. And, perhaps most importantly, if writing is what you really want to do, never give up. Keep working at it and you’ll get there. If I did, so can you.

If you would like to provide an alumni profile and be featured in our e-newsletter and blog email alumni@bbk.ac.uk.