York graduates celebrate high achievements
Posted on 11 July 2005
Kilimanjaro Trek
Corinne Bass, who graduates this summer with a first-class honours degree in Music, is aiming high after graduation as she plans to undertake a charity ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro next year.
Corinne, 21, hopes to raise the £2,800 required to take part in the charity trek organised by Scope - a charity which helps those affected by Cerebral Palsy - through a variety of fundraising events. These include a series of concerts featuring her friends and family in her hometown of Loughborough over the coming months.
An expert in organising fund-raising musical events, Corinne has arranged and performed at a number of concerts to help fund her final year project - a practical study day on improvisation in performance. The day involved workshops led by four professional musicians including experts in Indian and Jazz music, who were all individually approached by Corinne and whose fees were paid by the money raised from her concerts.
Corinne has started collecting funds for the expedition and has raised £300. She will start a training regime over the next few months to prepare her for her climb in February 2006 of over 19,000ft.
"I signed-up for the trek after seeing an advert in a newspaper," she commented, "and felt that I not only wanted to do something for a worthy cause, but also wanted to be involved with a new project after completing my studies at York."
Corinne hopes to put her musical talents to further good use by undertaking a career in music education that will involve visiting schools and interacting with children with the aid of music.
If you would like to help Corinne with her fundraising, visit her website at www.justgiving.com/corinnesadventure
Public Relations Career
English and Politics student, Alicia Mistry is entering the world of Public Relations after winning a top award in the field.
The James Maxwell Award, now in its second year, was created by PR Week to encourage upcoming young talent. Alicia's winning project was a campaign to encourage more people to save for their retirement. She called the campaign 'Future Fund' arguing that young people were put off by the word 'pension'.
Alicia, 21, from Rugby, will begin her one-year training placement as an Account Coordinator at the London office of the global public relations agency Ketchum. During her training, Alicia will have the unique opportunity of experiencing a variety of PR skills.
"I have been given a head start in what is a very competitive and challenging industry, I am really chuffed to have won it," said Alicia, who combined her studies with her role as Press and PR Officer for Namasker, the University's Indian society.
Alicia will be presented with her award at the PR Week Award Ceremony that will be held in October at the Grosvenor Hotel in London
Energy Industry
Environment students, Ka Wun Ng and Hannah Clegg, who studied Environment Economics and Ecology, both spent time away from the University to build their knowledge and experience in the Environmental field.
Ka Wun, 24, spent a year working in industry at PowerGen in Coventry as part of her BSc degree. She successfully secured her work placement, which she undertook after her second year at the University Her time at the energy supplier was spent in the Corporate Responsibility Department.
Ka Wun said, "The industry experience, along with my studies, helped me decide on the career I wanted to pursue after graduation in an environment-related field".
Ka Wun, whose home is in Hong Kong, will graduate at an extra-special ceremony on Thursday that will be attended by her parents and brother, whom she has not seen for over a year. Her family, who are making the special visit from China for the occasion, have plans to holiday in Italy after Ka Wun receives her degree to celebrate her success.
Parrots in Peru
Hannah Clegg, 21, spent three months in the Peruvian rainforest at the end of her second year (2004) to gather research for her final year dissertation on 'The effects of tourism on the clay lick activity of parrots and macaws'.
Parrots and macaws go to the same clay licks on riverbank cliffs every morning, which is thought to protect the birds from harmful toxins in their diets of fruit and seeds. Hannah chose to carry out her study at a tourist lodge in the rainforest where visitors have the opportunity to see the birds in the wild.
Hannah started each day at 5am to reach the clay lick before the parrots arrived. She recorded how many birds were using the lick and the number of tourists watching them. Her findings suggested that tourism is not causing parrots and macaws any significant harm, but that it may be necessary to impose stricter regulations on the tourists' visits to minimise disturbance.
She says, "Life in the rainforest was fantastic, I spent a lot of time exploring, I'd love to return to Peru and intend to do so one day. However this summer, I'm going to Ecuador to work as a volunteer for five weeks helping with research on the spectacled bear, so it should be an interesting summer!"
She also adds, "When I first visited the University of York I thought there was a really nice, friendly atmosphere on the campus and liked the idea of spending three years in an historic and attractive city like York."
Hannah, from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, will receive her first class honors degree in a ceremony on Thursday. She intends to continue her studies after graduation by doing an MSc in Ecology at Aberdeen.