Jyoti Singh

Jyoti graduated from our BA (Hons) English Language in 2020, and now works as Student Services Manager at Stafford House, Cambridge.

What have you been doing since graduating from ARU?

I am the Student Services Manager at Stafford House Cambridge, which is a language school in the city centre. Since graduating from ARU with my English Language degree, I have completed my Masters in Linguistics at UCL and worked several jobs within my current company.

Did you always know that you would go to university and if not, what changed your mind?

I always knew that I would go to university as I was simply following in the footsteps of my older siblings. However, the biggest difference between myself and them was the fact that I steered well away from studying science and opted for English instead because I knew I wanted to be in the EFL industry.

When I was 17, I joined a 3-day TEFL taster course which gave me my initial exposure to the EFL industry and from that day, I worked towards my goal of being an English teacher and progressing in a language school.

What inspired you to do what you do now?

My biggest inspiration for what I do right now is wanting to give people around the world the same opportunities that I’ve had. By giving students knowledge of English, it has helped them massively. We see this through students completing their IELTS exams and applying for Universities in the UK, and to know that we helped them a little bit is the biggest reward.

What’s the most valuable thing you took away from your education?

The inspiration to do great things. I looked up to all my lecturers and the level of knowledge they had, the passion they put in, and the time they’d invested into their field of work.

Which aspects of the course most helped your career development, and why?

I completed my CELTA with ARU in 2019 and this helped me massively with getting employed as a teacher once I had finished my degrees.

I gained a lot of knowledge through studying English Language alone because the modules each year were so diverse and allowed me to delve into fields of study that I didn’t think would interest me. I think this helped me have a broader outlook on the work that I do and gave me the push to take on new challenges that were out of my comfort zone.

What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

Chase all opportunities that you get - you never know when you will be in a managerial position at the age of 25! I am so grateful to have learnt so much and been able to experience so much at such a young age by allowing myself to take opportunities and give them my best shot.

What was your favourite thing about studying in Cambridge?

If anyone knows me now, they will know that Cambridge will always be a second home for me. It was the city where I grew up, the first city I moved to after living at home with my parents. Some of my best friendships began in Cambridge and I will always be grateful for that.

The city is beautiful, and I learnt so much about the history of Cambridge and Cambridge University – a lot of this knowledge I now get to pass onto my students in my current job.

What projects are you currently working on, both at work and outside it?

At work, I have recently taken on the responsibility for testing and transforming our new system that we recently moved to. It was something I heavily involved myself in out of genuine curiosity, and in order to help make the school better. It’s a great opportunity and allows me to implement my opinions and ideas on how to improve our processing of data and how to relay information to our students in an engaging way through their student portal.

Outside of work I have been travelling, which I like to see as my own personal project. I would like to choose a country in the future where I could go and teach. I have visited Albania, Italy, Netherlands and the US in the last year and I am hoping to continue this in the upcoming months – I already have Portugal booked for the summer. I find out so many interesting facts about different countries through my students which encourages me to experience more.