June, OW 2020

June, OW 2020

studying for a PGCE at UCL

I started playing music from a young age. I think I was about three when I started learning the piano. I’ve always had quite a short attention span, so I quickly moved on to other instruments. I picked up the cello, then the trumpet and I also started playing the guitar. I’ve always been singing, from a very young age. I was a chorister back in Hong Kong.

When I was 12, I took up the organ, and it kind of went from there. My organ playing only really took off when I came to Wells. I’ve stuck with it and now I’m the Organ Scholar at St Catherine’s, Cambridge.

I was really lucky to receive a full bursary to study at Wells, and I knew this was a very special opportunity. Children are definitely aware of the support behind them. I knew the background I came from. I knew what my mum’s financial situation was like. I was so grateful for the opportunity, I wanted to make the most of it, and I think I really did!

When you know how special the opportunity is, you really want to make the most of it. So I put myself forward and was chosen to be Plumptre House Captain, a member of the Choralia choir and finally Head Girl in my final year. Wells offered me so many things so I could still have a normal school life alongside all the music stuff, which was really what I wanted. It was honestly perfect. I felt this was my one chance of getting out and doing something with my life, actually being able to succeed.

I have always had a love for teaching, something that was really fostered when I was in school. My teachers were great. I remember Mr Brink and Mr Whitehead in particular; they were really supportive and engaging teachers. So I think I knew quite early on that I wanted to go into teaching. Maybe someday I will come back to teach in Wells!