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Ross: I’m Ross Hanning. I am on the Counselling studies course at York St John University
and I am in my final year. The course is there to really help you develop your listening
skills, active listening things like that just to be able to support and help people.
Really it’s not there for people that definitely want to be counsellors it’s there for anyone
who wants to go in to the health profession like social work, councillor, youth worker
things like that. So it’s really open to anybody. The facilities at York St John are
second to none. We are a very small University but we have got so much to offer. All over
campus there is various different support. Anything that you can really go to if you
need to. In Lord Mayors Walk, the counselling building we have specific counselling rooms
for our studies that have the cameras and the counsellors set out with chairs and things.
The Teaching staff here are amazing, if you have any sort of problem they are always on
the end of an email. Most of them even if on annual leave will still respond to an email
just to say it’s ok. Because Counselling studies can be quite emotive, we provoke quite
a lot of emotions in people so they know that they have to be there to support you. During
your degree you will be put on a placement module every year, which you have to go out
and volunteer, it’s up to you to go and find that because if they find it for you,
you may be put in a voluntary placement that doesn’t actually mean anything to you. But
in terms of you going out there and getting the experience you need for a job that you
want you go and find yourself a voluntary placement. So im helping to support a person
recovering from mental health problems that feels isolated by those mental health problems
and help to reintegrate in to the local community. I’ve enjoyed every module that we have done,
placement modules I really enjoy and get my best marks because it’s actually getting
out there and doing something that I really enjoyed. Have a look around voluntary organisations
that you would really want to be a part of before coming to York or even volunteer before
coming to university sort of at GCSE and A Level age because it will give you some really
valuable experience so if you’ve g got a placement already sorted when you get here
that will take the pressure off in your first few months of uni. I’d hopefully like to
become a communication support worker in the deaf community because I choose to do British
Sign Language as an elective module in my first year and just carried that on, fantastic
experience.