Student Enrichment Reports

Student Enrichment Reports - Emily Walker

The Student Enrichment Fund is a College fund which students can apply to for financial assistance towards their wider student experience and personal development.

Having not had music lessons at all when I was younger, I was attracted to learning a new skill after my A-Levels. I first decided to have piano lessons during my gap year, but a few months in the pandemic hit. Online tuition wasn’t as common at the time and I understandably had to stop seeing my teacher, music exams were also cancelled so my progress dwindled. I had planned to start taking lessons again once I got to Durham, but Michaelmas last year flew by and I still couldn’t meet with a tutor. So, I was intrigued to see the advert for the Student Enrichment Fund, and after a couple of emails, discovered that I could have a term’s worth of piano lessons in John Snow’s music room funded by the college. Fortunately, I found a wonderful tutor who could teach me online from the comfort of the hub and secured a weekly music room booking to organise lessons over the whole term. Needless to say, I learnt plenty of technical skills during my lessons. It was great to be making progress again - despite not being able to sit music exams, I worked through the content for Grade 2 and now anticipate Grade 3 being my first official exam. What’s more, the piano lessons gave me an opportunity to work on something leisurely outside of my degree during a very stressful term. During Epiphany last year, college was a lot quieter which meant I had the time to make the most of the funding by practising throughout the week. Also, I had something fun to work on when sports and societies weren’t available. I had a great experience taking piano lessons this year and am thankful the SEF for facilitating this project, especially during a time during which many of us were missing the Durham experience.

Student Enrichment Reports - Cara Chedid

Upon transitioning from drama school to university, I was nervous about the financial support that would be available to me at university to allow me to keep taking classes during my time at university. To fund the classes I needed to maintain my singing, acting and dancing technique from college, over the next three years, would be a substantial amount of money that I would not have necessarily been able to fund on my own.

The Student Enrichment Fund was the perfect opportunity for me to apply for funding to help me continue my creative hobbies alongside my University work. I chose to use my funding on singing lessons, which biweekly for the year, I had on zoom one to one with a vocal coach from home. As a member of Durham Student Theatre, and for a range of musical theatre company auditions, these vocal lessons were so beneficial to maintain my vocal ability from my previous training and allow me to continue to learn and develop my voice. Every week, my teacher would give me written feedback, piano accompaniment and specific advice on auditions and the negotiating of the industry itself which was extremely helpful coming from someone who has been a performer in the West End for the last thirty years.

Overall I enriched my understanding of both musical theatre and classical vocal techniques simultaneously. Singing has played a huge part in my life so far, this skill has given me countless performing opportunities that I am so grateful for, and I am really appreciative that the Student Enrichment Fund exists and is available to all students, no matter their background or standard. It was an incredibly rewarding and valuable experience to be a part of, and I would recommend anyone to use this opportunity to fund their creative passions and hobbies or try something new.

Wishing you all a happy, restful and safe Summer break! End of Year!

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