Jess Fellows
For Jess, graduation marks the end of a year of achievements. Not only has she achieved a childhood dream of becoming a teacher, but in doing so achieved another dream – of running a marathon.
“I knew I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in primary school,” she said. “I think growing up with 4 other siblings (3 of them being younger) was a massive influence on this. I used to run pretend classes, make registers and ‘tell off’ my brother for misbehaving. I loved my teachers, throughout primary and secondary school, I admired everything they did.”
After completing her undergraduate degree in Business, Jess, from Telford, joined the University of Worcester’s Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Business course.
“The reason I chose business specifically, was that throughout GCSE and A-level, I had the most fantastic and admirable teachers that created my deep love for the subject, enough to pursue it and become a teacher myself,” she said.
Jess was the first in her family to go to university. “This is an achievement I take great pride in every day, and I can’t wait to graduate for a second time.”
Not content with the challenge of completing a PGCE, Jess also took on the challenge of the London Marathon this year.
“Through a mixture of peer pressure, blind luck and sheer unknowing for what I was potentially signing up for, I put my name forward and weeks later received the email that read: “Your in…”,” Jess recalled. “I bagged myself a place to run 26.2 miles in London, and at that moment in time, I hadn’t even run a full 5k yet, and after a bit of weeping, I realised I had 6 months to get into some sort of shape.”
Jess ran for Meningitis Now, in memory of her sister Kaity who passed away from the meningitis B strain at only 15 months old, raising almost £900.
On graduation she said: “I have many feelings about graduating, I’m elated and incredibly excited to be coming out the other side as a fully-fledged teacher of business, but I also feel a deep sense of sadness to be walking away from such a supportive, wonderful group of people who have done nothing but go above and beyond for us.”
Jess has secured a job within the Trust she worked for on her placement, starting in September.
The University’s annual autumn Graduation Ceremonies will take place as planned from September 12-14 in the beautiful and historic Worcester Cathedral followed by celebration receptions at the City Campus. No Worcester graduates have been affected by the marking and assessment boycott.
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