Kim Graham

“Leaving Liverpool never even entered my head – it’s a fantastic city and the University has a brilliant reputation. Even if I hadn’t been born here, I would have chosen to study at UoL as I was impressed at the range and variety of modules on offer so I was able to select options based around my personal strengths and interests.

The best part of the course was all of the field work! I was lucky enough to go on some amazing field trips with the University, all of them were hard work, with long days collecting and analyzing data but I learned so much in terms of species identification, sampling techniques, data handling and report writing. The best part of it all was the social aspect – by the end of the three years we were a really close knit group because of all the trips we had been on together.

I am currently working for Myerscough College, a land-based college with centers across the North-West, based in their Liverpool center. Myerscough provide FE and HE courses in Animal Management, Equine, Fisheries, Agriculture studies (amongst others). One half of my job is to teach the Science element of the Level 3 Diploma in Animal Management to post-16 learners who are looking to pursue careers in the animal industry, or enter Higher Education on courses such as Veterinary Science, Zoology, Wildlife and Conservation and Marine Biology. The other half of my job is mentoring trainee teachers and developing teaching and learning across the college as a whole.

The diploma itself is made up of many modules such as Wildlife and Conservation, Breeding and Genetics, Biology, Nutrition, Welfare, Zoo Animal Health, as well as a practical element so I am able to regularly draw upon knowledge gained from my degree. One of the things we do differently to schools is teach our students how to reference, so the fact that it was almost second nature by the end of my degree has been really useful. The same goes for writing scientific reports, researching topics, using Excel and other software, creating presentations and then delivering them – these are all skills I have to teach to my students. Having a degree from UoL has given me credibility with the students in the modules I teach, which is always a good thing!”