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Youth and Community Work gave me a newfound confidence and a job I love

Mark Burrows BA Youth & Community Work graduate
Mark Burrows BA Youth & Community Work graduate

Never in a million years did I think I was going to go to university and qualify as a youth worker. After all I was 48, left school with no formal qualifications and was told by an English teacher at the age of thirteen that I was ‘thick’ and would be lucky to get a job in a factory.

I grew up in the South Wales valleys, a child of the 70s. I never really enjoyed school. I was always performing or playing the class clown, in order to get thrown out of lessons. I got into secondary school but I was really struggling and the encounter that I had with my English teacher just reinforced that school was not for me. So at the age of fourteen I left school and believed this was my destiny. Until one day a local community letter arrived through the door, and it was asking for male volunteer youth workers. I decided to give it a go.

I will never forget my first youth club, I felt like a fish out of water. There seemed to be no structure with kids running around. But through all this I started to notice youth workers amongst the young people and interacting with them on their level. I could see the difference youth workers make. That was it… I was hooked and I started my journey into becoming a youth worker.

After a couple of years enjoying every minute of volunteering, my senior youth worker suggested I enrol at university. Me? University? Surely not! I had a full-time job, mortgage, and a wife and the prospect of throwing this away for three years in education did not sound appealing. One day I applied for Cardiff Met just to prove my senior youth worker wrong and me right that I wasn’t cut out for university. So, when I got my formal offer to study at Cardiff Met it came as a total surprise!

The course besides learning about youth work, has also taught me about myself. Education has enriched me far more than the learning it delivered. In the first year, learning about human brain development, gave me a better understanding of myself and the pieces of my jigsaw started to make sense. It was like a lightbulb moment. The concept of a growth mindset is something that stuck with me.

, Youth and Community Work gave me a newfound confidence and a job I love, CARDIFF MET BLOG
Since studying, I have become far more grounded and a rounded practitioner who is now working full-time as a substance misuse worker for Cardiff Council, as a secondment worker.

Going into higher education after an absence of over 30 years since I left school, was very daunting for me. The lecturers on my youth work degree supported my development. Giving me handouts prior to lectures because of my dyslexia, meant I could concentrate on them and not feel lost in a PowerPoint presentation. In the second year I felt a little despondent when although I was reading more, my marks did not seem to show this. I remember speaking to a lecturer at the time and instead of looking at myself in deficit, the lecturer gave me some sound advice. This was instead of grading myself against others, recognise that I was constantly achieving a level.

When I started my placement, I was already employed by the part-time youth service at Caerphilly Council for one week. My senior mentor at this youth club gave me some invaluable advice and asked if I was prepared to work at more than one youth club. This was fantastic learning, even though it was for the same Council, meeting different young people, with different challenges and perceptions was a fantastic learning curve for myself.

In my second year for my 400 hours placement, I applied for Taith, an open access substance misuse agency for over 18s. I was the first youth worker to get a placement at this facility, as normally they’d only taken social work students. The manager at Taith allowed me to have a caseload of 18 to 25-year-olds, to work on the recovery with them. Being immersed in this brand-new environment, working with young people struggling with addiction and dependency issues, really set off a spark with me and ignited my inner desire to work in this field.

Since studying, I have become far more grounded and a rounded practitioner who is now working full-time as a substance misuse worker for Cardiff Council, as a secondment worker. The role can be very challenging, but also hugely rewarding. Having the youth work quality is an occupational standards, meeting young people where they are on their journey, giving them a voice and listening to what they want to achieve, is key to recovery. There is always opportunity to improve as a youth worker and the council and my employer Cardiff and Vale, Drugs and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS), have lots of opportunities to train and progress.

Trust me if I can do Higher Education, enjoy the learning, and leave graduating with a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Youth and Community Work, then this course is accessible for everyone.