Ethel Maqeda – Certificate in Creative Writing
Part-time study on the Creative Writing certificate enabled Ethel to start her journey towards being a writer.
Ethel, a refugee from Zimbabwe, came to live in Sheffield in 2005. She describes her life on arrival in the UK as "a shock .... It was such a completely different life. I didn't have anything'. Her priority was just to get a job.
Although Ethel could write very good English, she lacked confidence in speaking the language. "Coming to TILL boosted my confidence in the sense that there were a lot of different people doing the course for different reasons, and there wasn't the pressure.
"It was a relaxed atmosphere, it was people from very different backgrounds. It made me think it’s alright, OK it's not too late, it's finding out where you fit in and exploring and it gave me the confidence to just enjoy it. Also the other students were very supportive and very understanding and mature, and the staff were very supportive."
"Even when I was back in Zimbabwe, in the job that I had, I didn't quite believe in myself. Studying at TILL made me know what I could do. It just made me learn to believe in myself."
Ethel's increased confidence enabled her to progress from the Creative Writing Certificate at TILL straight onto the Creative Writing Masters Degree in the School of English.
More about our Certificate in Creative Writing - Certificate