Jamie Lewis, Access to HE (Journalism), Truro College 2010-2011

How a young man from Essex learned to enjoy education in Cornwall

The majority of young people visiting Cornwall are here to enjoy the surfing and nightlife for a week or two and then it’s back home to normality. Jamie Lewis however, would be quick to point out that he is nothing like the average Joe.

The twenty-year-old from Hornchurch in Essex came to Cornwall nearly a year ago to change his life, along with his attitude:

“School and education was never my thing. I hated learning and never enjoyed school education and after I had left school and without any direction, it didn’t take long for me to get into trouble. I knew then things had to change”.

The then 19 year-old and his 16-year-old girlfriend decided to look further afield and Jamie went on to google ‘alternative ways into university education without A levels’. He came across Access to Higher Education and hasn’t looked back since: “I found a site listing all access courses available and the very last one was a Journalism pathway. Although I hated school, I always loved writing and felt I should give journalism a go”.

In the end Jamie chose Access to Journalism at Truro College and a short while later met tutor and course leader, Jane Stanley for an interview. He got a place on the year-long course and is due to complete in June of this year.

So, what’s next Jamie? “Well, a short time into the course I started networking at a local social media café my tutor recommended. I made loads of useful contacts and not long afterwards was commissioned to write articles for a Cornish based business website. That went well and I was paid!  Since then I have set up a website for aspiring, young ‘would be journalists’, called ‘The Newsroom UK'. People can contribute articles on any interesting topic and use the site as a showcase to demonstrate their writing talent”.

“We went online on the 20^th April and had over one thousand hits on the first day. Since then it has averaged out to around 400 hits a day and we now have five young journalists running the site, with contributions coming from about twenty countries, including the US. It’s going really well, and there has been great variety in the articles submitted”.

And after completion of the access course at Truro College?

“My UCAS application resulted in offers from several universities but I have decided I’ll defer the degree for now; I’m still young so I may start next year.  Instead, I will be focussing on my website and doing an NCTJ qualification which is usually done by postgraduates but, as a result of my published work and the Access course, I’ve got a place.  I am already looking forward to it”.

But Jamie will be missing Truro and especially his tutor Jane Stanley: “To me, this course was an eye opener and for the first time ever I actually enjoyed being educated. My mum, who was very supportive of my decision to go to Truro, embarrassingly even wrote a letter to Jane, thanking her for getting the best out of me”. Jamie laughs: “I tried to stop her, but to no avail. No, but seriously, Jane really does deserve all the thanks. If it hadn’t been for her passion and teaching skills, I probably would be back in Essex and in trouble”.

This article was written by Christian Pohle, a former Access to HE student at Truro College, now in his final year studying BA Journalism at University CollegeFalmouth.

UPDATE Part 1

We are delighted to announce that Jamie has recently been offered a job as a web journalist at the International Business Times in Canary Wharf, London.

When recruiting for the post of Web Journalist the company asked for a minimum of a degree and one year's experience in journalism. Jamie had neither but used his activity whilst on the Access course at Truro College to provide evidence of his skills.

Jamie submitted a range of work published whilst on the Access course and on this basis he was offered an interview. He impressed them so much they offered him the job and he starts on October 3rd.

We wish Jamie all the very best in his new job and hope it is the start of a long and prosperous career. Jamie is indeed a true Access success story!

We were thrilled to discover that Jamie has recently had an article published in the Independent. This is a significant achievement, as his former Access tutor Jane Stanley explains “From Access to Journalism to The Independent in under ten months - now that's meteoric!”

We wish Jamie congratulations on this achievement and all the best for his future.

You can read Jamie's article here.