Personal Statement

As a child my dreams were to become an architect; as far from literary work as I could be. Books scared me, writing made me fret and spelling gave me nightmares. My parents, frustrated at my schools efforts, took a drastic action; namely they gave me a book and ignored me until I completed an hour's solid reading. The method worked and soon I was engaged in an attempt to bankrupt my parents through reading books as fast as they could buy them. The first books I read where the Lemony Snicket 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'. However I soon surpassed that level of reading and before leaving primary school I had read the complete works of Tolkien, including 'The Silmarillion' as well as the more widely known, but less impressive works of 'The Lord Of The Rings' and 'The Hobbit' and some works by Shakespeare, including 'A Midsummer's Nights Dream' and 'King Lear'. The books set for me throughout my educational life, have in no way satisfied my desire to discover more knowledge through reading, as E. M. Forster said "Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon" and my need for learning far exceeds the spoon. I developed interests in a wide spread of genres, reading fantasy novels by George.R.R.Martin, historical fiction by Conn Iggulden and the classics of Homer and Virgil. However for his depth and the vast intellect he includes in his books, Patrick Rothfuss is my favourite author.

My subjects all provide skills usable in this course. English has given me the ability to both write and read with skill and perception, I particularly enjoyed the coursework this year, having the chance to dissect two of my most loved books provided a new insight into just how talented the authors are, and just how much more there is for me to learn about writing. Also Biology provided me with good research techniques. Sociology has given me a basis from which I can create long essays with strong points of view woven with opposing opinions and evidence from a variety of sources. In Classical Civilisation I studied Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Virgil's 'The Aeneid', also I have extensively studied 'The Histories', by Herodotus. This in depth study of large texts has endowed me with a good knowledge of how to skim read long works quickly and thus complete research with speed and quality.

After 20 days of work experience at Birkby Junior School I have received a positive reference and many invitations to return. During my time at the school I helped children to whom English is a second language with their 'Big Write' task; improving their grammar, spelling, sentence structure and confidence. While working in my award winning Young Enterprise group I took the role of Director of Public Relations, and despite the challenges I excelled in this position. I am also attending a weekly writing course in York.

Currently I am writing a book, The Dancing Soul of Fire, which has succeeded in reaching rank 273 (October 2012) on Autonomy. The book has also received interest for the publishing company Ecanus, as well as an actual offer from SBPRA. When not writing my book I have an interest in writing poetry, and one of these poems is currently being considered for publication in a war memorial book. I spent eight years at the Huddersfield Sharks Rugby Club, before joining the Brighouse Rangers Rugby Club, which again shows my ability to work as a team. I am also a keen runner completing around six miles of running a day. At the Clone Valley Black Belt Academy I currently study several martial arts, including Jujitsu, Karate and MMA. These activities show my dedication and commitment, both skills I intend to apply to my studies at university.

I personally feel I can bring the drive and creativity needed to succeed on this course, and my previous work in writing clearly demonstrates both my ability and passion for the subject.