Laura changes her life through learning
A 21-year-old from Swansea who says learning 'saved her life' has won a major award.
Gower College Swansea student Laura John, from Townhill, was presented with the Young Adult Learner Award at the recent Inspire! Awards, as part of Adult Learners’ Week 2015.
The talented artist was recognised for turning her life around after having a difficult start that led her to self-harm and drugs.
Laura was put into care when she was two years old and spent most of her early years moving around the homes of various family members. Regularly playing truant from school and misbehaving in lessons, she left school aged 16 and stopped attending a college course when she started taking drugs.
“I’d been self-harming since I was six-years-old,” she said. “Throughout my teens, I was in a bad place and, by the time I was 20, I’d withdrawn into myself and couldn’t see a way out.”
A member of staff where Laura was volunteering after being unable to find a job suggested she start an art course after discovering a talent Laura had been hiding all her life.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved drawing,” she said. “As a little girl, I’d draw flowers and butterflies, as an escape. It was the only thing that was nice and pretty. I’d have a bad day and get out my pencils and draw. Nobody had ever suggested it was something I could do for a living and I never thought I was any good. So when I heard someone telling me they liked my drawings, it stirred something in me. I wanted to give myself a second chance.”
A year on, Laura is about to graduate with an art and design diploma from Gower College Swansea and is planning to study art therapy at university.
Laura, who specialises in tattoo design and pencil drawings and has taught herself to knit, wants to complete her degree, study for a masters and get a job as an art therapist for young people.
“I want to help other people who’ve had a difficult life or have been through something traumatic,” she said. “A lot of kids don’t want to talk about what they’ve been through – they find it easier to draw, like I did.”
Now studying full time, Laura has also worked as a student tutor with school children, encouraging them to engage with art and design, and is now volunteering as part of the college's Saturday Art School, supporting vulnerable children and adults within her community.
For her final year project, she is covering a whole block at her college with a blanket made up of around 100 yarn squares, a process called ‘yarn bombing.’ Members of the Bluebell Club at Swansea’s Topic House, where Laura volunteers, have been helping her crochet and knit the blankets for the past two months for the exhibit, entitled Loop.
“Like a blanket, the yarn bombing is nurturing and making the building feel looked after,” she said. “Like therapy and a warm blanket could do for a person in need of support, or like education could do for a student returning to learning.”
“Starting a college course saved me – it saved my life,” adds Laura. “A year ago, I was taking drugs and self-harming, I didn’t want to know or help anyone and now I’m on my way to university and hopefully have a career ahead of me helping others. My advice to anybody else is you can’t dwell on the past. The past can’t change your future.”
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Julie James, said: “Adult Learners’ Week gives everybody the opportunity to learn something new, whether you learn from home, in the workplace or in your local community.
“The Inspire! Awards recognise the people who have taken that step, and their examples should encourage anybody who thinks it’s either too late or too difficult to learn a new skill.
“We hope Adult Learners’ Week will encourage adults across Wales to find out more about their skills and career options by going along to events in their area. Adults can also access the Skills Gateway to get careers advice and guidance, whether they want to improve their skills and employability or get back into work.”
Cerys Furlong, Director of NIACE Cymru, said: “The Inspire! Awards remind us of the power of learning and every story is a testament to the hard work of the learners and the tutors. Each winner has come such a long way and shown real determination and passion for learning and we wish each one every success for the future.
“Everyone can get involved with Adult Learners’ Week by joining a free learners’ event in their area on anything from first aid to digital photography.”
Adult Learners’ Week runs from June 13 to 19 and celebrates lifelong learning, whether work-based, as part of a community education course, at college, university or online. Now in its 24th year, it aims to promote the range of courses available to adult learners, from languages to computing and childcare to finance. It is organised by NIACE Cymru with the support of the Welsh Government and European Social Fund.
The Inspire! Awards, sponsored by ColegauCymru, are hosted each year ahead of Adult Learners’ Week to celebrate the achievements of outstanding learners in Wales who have shown exceptional passion, commitment and drive for learning, often in the face of difficult circumstances.
For more information on Adult Learners’ Week, visit www.careerswales.com/skillsgateway or call 0800 028 4844 or follow @skillsgatewaycw
PR: courtesy of Golley Slater