As you enter your thirties, and friends around you are advising you to settle down, would you still dare to chase your dreams? Alice, who fulfilled her wish of becoming a journalist after graduation, worked hard for a few years, but lost the passion for journalism she once had. She had a chance to change careers, and took it, much to the surprise of everyone around her. Her new job gave her a new lease in life! Although a career in the art world is completely different from her previous job in news media, Alice has found a new passion and embarked on a brand new start in life!
Art - More valuable with age
When one door shuts, another always opens. Alice came into contact with antique art by chance while working in the media industry. She was on the verge of losing her passion for her previous job, so she took the leap and went to work in an art gallery. “After listening to advice from more experienced members of the media industry, I decided to switch to this completely different career. I had actually been thinking about a career change. As a reporter, I had to run around many places every day, and I’d gotten used to the freedom. Initially, I couldn’t get used to sitting in an art gallery for the whole day!” However, despite the adjustment period, Alice’s interest in arts only grew, and she is now envied by her ex-colleagues for successfully switching careers!
“Art becomes more valuable with age,” a senior journalist told her. This led Alice to challenge the traditional concept of settling down by 30 by deciding to take a course on Art Museum and Gallery Studies in the U.K., to improve her knowledge of the arts, learn how museums operate overseas, and how galleries can attract visitors. She hopes that in the future, she will be able to apply what she has-learnt to her own art gallery.
Going abroad is the first step towards fulfilling dreams
“After hearing advice from overseas study consultants and receiving recommendations from classmates, and after comparing the facilities of various institutes, I decided to study here. I only had one day off a week, so I took full advantage of this free day to completely immerse myself in an environment for IELTS preparation!” Alice’s workload was heavy, but after two gruelling months of hard work, she progressed from a score of 4 on the proficiency test at the beginning to a score of 6.5 on an actual IELTS exam, and won a place at her dream university!
“I am very grateful to my teacher David for helping me build a strong foundation in IELTS strategies! I also challenged myself by taking another teacher, Jeremy’s, advanced course, so that I could prepare for the IELTS under an outstanding teacher and with students of a higher level. This ensured that I constantly pushed myself to study harder!” Although choosing a class of a higher level meant having to work doubly hard, Alice enjoyed the learning process.
One step closer to her dreams
Alice took as many opportunities as she could to practise English, and as a result, her listening and speaking abilities improved tremendously! “Studying here has helped me regain the proficiency I once had in English, and also increased my vocabulary. The teacher gave us many opportunities to speak in class, and taught us the corresponding vocabulary for various topics. At the same time, he would explain any new vocabulary using different methods. Before we knew it, we knew how and when to use the new words!” Alice is looking forward to studying overseas in the future. To familiarise herself with a full English-speaking environment, she also signed up for myClass. She hopes that when she is studying overseas, she’ll be able to visit various types of art galleries and get to know more people, so that she can learn from foreign art galleries after she graduates.
Words for test takers
Alice, who is courageously chasing her dreams, has this encouragement for test takers preparing for the IELTS: “You only live once, so do the things that you love!”