This Student Can: Jonathan Stephen

My route into education may be considered non-typical; I left high school with no qualifications and returned to complete an Access Course at Bury College in Social Sciences, as well as securing GCSEs in English and Maths to enable me to apply for University.   

I studied at the University of Huddersfield, graduating with a BSc Hons Psychology in 2016. Since then, I was elected as Education Officer and President of Huddersfield Students’ Union, where I focused a lot of work on equality, equity, diversity and inclusion (EEDI). This is an area that is very close to me in the sense I am a member of the LGBT+ community and passionate about social movements such as Pride in evolving the lens of EEDI. Some of the work included the development of a new strategy leading the direction of the Union,  the collaborative creation of student campaign networks such as LGBT+, Women’s & disabled students campaign network, BAME Ambassador Scheme and Women in Leadership.  

Alongside the campaigns that were born from the networks, I also worked with colleagues to develop Educating Kirklees -  a youth engagement in democracy conference which positioned young people at the centre of the conversation.  It was all about finding out what we can do to get young people in Kirklees more involved in local democracy and, more importantly, how we could develop as a Students’ Union to better support the needs of the younger community. During this time, I also worked for the Office for Students informing the design of national regulations such as the Teaching Excellence Framework.  

I am also a Trustee for local charity in Halifax, named Healthy Minds and a member of the ITV (Calendar show) Diversity Panel. I am currently studying a Masters (part time) in International Development, to explore my passion for social justice, human development, economics and global civil society. 

Filmed March 2021, information correct at time of filming.

 

Jonathan explains how Student Services helped him in different aspects of his career and the amazing connections he made at University whilst also considering how he balanced student work and his part-time job.

 

Jonathan tells us about the sources of support he has found important such as Careers, Wellbeing Services, HudLets and the Advice Centre.

 

Jonathan tells us about the important turning points in his journey; from meeting with Careers Advisers with the Careers and Employability team leading to an opportunity to contribute to the UN sustainable development goals in New York; to his election to the post of Education Officer for the SU.

 

Jonathan discusses how he was able to draw on his identity as a mature student to succeed and overcome challenges.

 

Jonathan explores why we should concentrate less on the mistakes we've made and more on what we can do to learn from them.

 

Jonathan shares his top life lessons, encouraging students to recognise your own value and skills, be proactive and prepare for any challenges that may come your way.

 

Jonathan discusses his route through education and how his roles as a Student Ambassador and Customer Service Support on iPoint during his time at University helped support his career journey.

 

Jonathan speaks about his current role as Diversity and Inclusion Officer and highlights what he loves about the job as well as discussing how his former position as a Student Union Officer gave him valuable experience that he has been able to transfer into his career.

 

Jonathan offers advice on working hard to achieve your dreams, taking up all opportunities to gain experience and have confidence in your authenticity.