If you practice an art form (and you’re doing a STEM degree at this Uni!) you’ve probably wondered whether to keep it as a hobby or try to make it into something more. That was the predicament I felt stuck in with my creative writing last year before I became an Arts Scholar. The ScholarShip sounded very exciting—money, skills development, performance opportunities, (unfortunately swashbuckling not included), etc.—but it’s really hard to fully appreciate the value of these things until you’ve had them!
£1000 sounded nice, but I didn’t think much more about it. But when I actually received the first £500, I realised it meant a lot more than just buying myself some second-hand books—it was a class-A excuse to visit galleries, museums, watch and perform at spoken word open mic events, travel the seven seas (i.e. catch the train to Bristol) and take opportunities that otherwise would have sailed on by. Even if you’re a poetry/prose nerd like me without fancy gadgets to spend it on, the funding really is freedom.
There were two showcases: a relatively informal invite-all-your-friends one in first semester and then a formal give-it-your-all one in second semester. The first one is a great opportunity to experiment: our group was an illustrator, a baritone player, a video games developer and me (a writer) but somehow we managed to corral something together! It set me up really nicely for the second one. Yes, it can sound a little scary having a more serious showcase with the donors of the scholarship, but for me, it was totally worth it and without some slightly higher stakes I wouldn’t have gained much more confidence in myself!
In all seriousness, the whole scholarship has been a great opportunity to learn, and I increasingly want to make writing my life going forwards. I think the scheme is fantastic—it’s like a trial run (or lite version) of what a life in the arts will be like, so if you’re curious you have nothing to lose!
Yours truly (me hearties),
Max
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