Firstly, welcome to ‘AlumNOUSE’: a space designed to promote a more interactive community between our alumni and cur-rent students. We hope that ‘AlumNOUSE’ will allow you to find out what our students get up to post studying at the University of York, and how they got there!
So, our inaugural York alumnus for ‘Alum-NOUSE’ is Ruby Brown, a 23 year old graduate marketing apprentice currently living in York. I recently spoke with Ruby Brown, who at-tended the University of York from 2018-2022,completing her undergrad BA(Hons) Politics and International Relations, and her post graduate in MA Political Theory.
Ruby was in Constantine College, and was involved in Nouse as a Deputy Politics Editor and Sub Editor in her third year, as well as writing for Nouse during her second year. While Ruby’s third year was “entirely remote”, her involvement in student societies and extracurricular activities including the Politics Society, YUSU’s Women and Non-binary team and her role as a Departmental Community Coordinator for the Politics Department certainly kept her occupied. Ruby’s high-level of engagement with university schemes and societies is something she recommends for all students; not only to increase job prospects, but to have an enriched university experience: in her first year she also went to the Higher School of Economics in Russia on a two-week exchange programme through the University which she has described as “a fantastic way to experience a new place, meet new people”. Having completed her third year during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ruby’s internship experience differs from the norm. She completed two remote internships during the Covid-19 pandemic and highly encourages other students to seek out these opportunities. Ruby explained tome that even if you don’t enjoy the internship, “it can be just as useful to find out what you don’t like”.
There’s a lot of pressure at university to have it all figured out, and to have a five, ten, or 15 year plan – but in today’s climate and job market it is reassuring to have someone to tell us to not “stress too much about jobs after uni”.
Upon leaving York in 2022, Ruby worked in recruitment for a year, telling me that her experiences in Nouse of proof reading, writing, in addition to cross team collaboration gave her important and relevant work experience. After a year in recruitment, Ruby decided to search for a more creative role and industry having particularly enjoyed writing (both academically and for Nouse) during her undergrad and MA. It was for these reasons that Ruby was drawn to a career in marketing. She explained to me about the diverse range of opportunities available within marketing, “something students don’t really know about”, with social media marketing only being the tip of the iceberg.
Ruby is enrolled in a year-long graduate marketing apprenticeship, at the end of which she will obtain the Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification. As a Humanities student myself, hearing about the opportunities post-university for funded qualifications specific to the industry you’re interested in was particularly useful. This is something Ruby really wanted me to emphasise to all students: to unlearn misconceptions that apprenticeships are only for school leavers, and to take full advantage of these great opportunities after university studies.
Ruby continues to live in York; we spoke about the allure of the ‘Northern charm’ that is certainly a reason why “people never leave York!” and remain in the city beyond University studies. She also told me about the career opportunities available in York, as well as in places easily commutable from here, including Leeds and Harrogate. It was refreshing to hear some-one break free from the ‘moving to London post-graduation’ mould, and to hear about how happy and settled she is in York. Much of my interview with Ruby was spent reminiscing about her years here at York. We spoke about the lovely campus and the city, as well as the societies available here, which Ruby told me “really made it for [her]”. It truly made me appreciate being a student here, and how quickly our university years pass by.
I would like to thank Ruby for her participation and for being our first 'AlumNOUSE' alum, and to extend my gratitude to the Nouse senior team who let me bring 'AlumNOUSE' into fruition. We are excited to continue this project over the coming year and meet more and more of our Nouse alumni.
Writer's note: if you want to get involved with 'AlumNOUSE', contact grace.bannister@nouse.co.uk
