Amy Drayton – MA Gender Studies, 2021

Amy started her university journey at Coventry University but took the decision to defer her study. Three years later, Amy began her studies again at the University of Lincoln and graduated with BA (Hons) International Tourism Management in 2020. Due to the pandemic, Amy decided to stay on at Lincoln and continue into postgraduate study, saying ‘I decided to take on my masters also at the University of Lincoln, because of the amazing experience I had had during my undergrad’. During her time at Lincoln, Amy developed a passion for equality, diversity, feminism and interdisciplinary study, and embarked upon an MA in Gender Studies within the School of Social and Political Sciences.

After graduation, Amy started work at YMCA Lincolnshire, a local charity supporting young people and has recently started a new position as a Graduate International Student Support Assistant at the University of Lincoln, supporting international students. Alongside this, Amy is continuing her passion for feminism by writing blog posts and related articles as she aspires to enter academia in the future and complete a PhD.

‘Due to my lower grades in my A-levels it was expected I would possibly struggle on the course; however, I took this as a challenge and outshone even my predicted grades, achieving a first in each piece of work I submitted in my third year.’

 ‘My mother studied at Lincoln when I was a child and I would sit in lectures with her, alongside this I grew up in Lincoln my whole life and felt Lincoln was a perfect fit.’ 

 ‘My favourite thing about being a student at the University of Lincoln, is how much I loved and still love academia and being a student. I think the University of Lincoln is a home from home for me, I always feel the same whenever I visit. It is such a welcoming and comfortable environment. I loved every second of both my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.’

‘The best parts of my job are when I get to make use of the skills I have learnt at University, for example marking, advertising, tourism and events skills from my undergraduate degree’