00:18.8 One… point to the next… starting with… doing a graphics club in school. So it was an optional thing, rather than part of my GCSEs… They only decided after everyone had picked their options that one of the sub-options of technology would be graphics and product design. But I’d already chosen my subjects and was happy with them [so]… I decided to join the graphics club… in my spare time. And then when we were choosing A-Levels, I went to talk to the teacher who ran the club and she said she was happy for me to do the A-Levels based on what I’d done in the club, even though I hadn’t done GCSE. Her name was Miss Edwards. And we were the first class in the high school to ever do Graphics A-Level… But we had just got a new art and design building, so we had all the equipment and in my first lesson I turned up and sat with all the Macs and I was the first one to class and they just came along, ‘Are you okay?’ I went: ‘Yeah. How do you turn it on?’ I didn’t even know how to use a Mac. But she still had confidence in me.

02:32.8 When it was my year’s turn to do university choices, obviously there was all the palaver about tuition fees and stuff, and we all thought we’d have to pay nine grand if we do a Foundation and then start. ‘Cause we’d be a year behind everybody else. So I was wanting to go straight into a degree to avoid that. But then once I started applying straight… into degree level (the [devolved] government has the subsidies for students) so I had something to fall back on. I had Foundation to fall back on and I did it. Instead of going straight to degree. That was invaluable to me… Most art colleges don’t really take A-Levels… but I still applied straight to a degree just to see if I could get in. Obviously, I didn’t get any offers because my skills weren’t up to the level so I had to go and do a Foundation first, and I’m really glad I did. I thought I’d come down here for an open day and then [this institute] sort of became my top choice. I had four options. And I had one left and I applied for St Martin’s in London. But [this institution] was still my top choice. Even if I had somehow got an offer from London.

05:39.6 I’m not even sure I’ve really had any challenges. I studied abroad last semester. And that was a highlight ’cause it’s something I’ve been wanting to do since, about GCSEs. One of the ways I chose universities, or at least open day universities, was whether or not they offered studying abroad as an option. ‘Cause if they didn’t, I just wasn’t interested in the course… A turn on the road that goes over the horizon. 11:46.5 Um. In terms of post-degree, I quite like the idea of doing a masters degree maybe at some point. Not straight away ’cause I wouldn’t be able to…to afford that or just support myself to… ‘Cause I think I want to do masters abroad. In Germany. Because it has very good masters programmes out there and they’re a damned sight more…cheap… [laughing] than the ones here. And after travel − doing a semester in Erasmus… seeing… learning in a different environment, country…is very enticing… Immediately after graduating it’ll be go home to my parents… and then… work, closer to home, and build up money… balancing that with doing short-term placements somewhere else. In order to get sort of the experience I need for graphics… getting a balance of money and experience. Towards going to [the MA in] Germany.