I left school at the age of 15 but didn’t take any exams. Life at school was a stream of constant bullying and I couldn’t wait to leave. Life wasn’t that much better at home either and I left my home town in Lincolnshire at the age of 17 after a split with my family. I was epileptic from the age of 12 until the age of 50 and then from the age of 50 to the age of 54 I was asthmatic with COPD. I couldn’t work so I didn’t even try to take exams. Five years ago, everything changed in my life when I let Jesus into my heart. My ailments were all healed, I stopped smoking without any cravings after an addiction of over 40 years and I have been made fit to work.
I made use of that opportunity to better my life. With faith I have learnt how to use a computer by taking my ECDL (which is equivalent to a GCSE grade A in IT skills.) I have trained to be a missionary in this country and in May 2018 I took four GCSEs. When I got my results it was enough to get me into a course at the City of Westminster College Paddington Green, where I did my UAL level 1 Art, Design and Media diploma course in which I achieved a distinction. I want to be an art teacher, and to be able to do this, I have to go to university to study for my BA in Fine Arts with foundation year. I enrolled into the University of East London Docklands campus and I started studying there on 30th September 2019. I haven’t always been creative and most of my artwork just lately has been experimenting with acrylic pours, but I am a contemporary artist and I like to use different disciplines in art.
If it wasn’t for my faith however, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve any of this, let alone been alive to tell you now.