Second year BA Music student Molly Ellis shares her experiences in the arts at Southampton so far, and what it means to her to become an Arts Ambassador!
Whether it’s with a camera in hand, or sitting behind the piano – I’ve been involved with the arts for as long as I can remember. In high school, you could find me in one of two places – jamming with bizarre instruments in a music room, or editing Star Wars special effects in the media suite, so naturally I wanted to continue this as much as possible in Southampton!
From the minute I started University in 2017 I knew I wanted to be involved with SUSUtv. I was lucky enough to jump onto the committee right away as Union Exec. Since then I’ve been able to work on everything from graphic design to short films, to writing and directing our annual Christmas A Capella videos.
With this experience, my main goal at SUSUtv became clear- I wanted to unite my love of music and film-making. I managed to exercise this not only by performing in the Music Department’s ‘Shifts’ concert in January, but also creating a promotional video for the event too. During the production process, I had members of SUSUtv ask me how to buy tickets, as they’d enjoyed the rehearsal so much they wanted to come. They never would have heard about the concert, were it not for the video! I quickly released that sharing my passion for music through other artistic mediums could be a huge part of my future.
Recently however, it’s not only in the Music Department where I can be seen behind a keyboard. After chatting with Showstoppers Musical Director (and fellow Arts Ambassador) Ben McQuigg, I found myself on the team of ‘Sweeney Todd’ as an Assistant Musical Director (MD). Flash forward four months and we’re now preparing for opening night. I’ve loved being involved with the society and becoming part of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe production team – something I’m insanely excited about!
For me, becoming an Arts Ambassador is about sharing what’s on offer with my fellow students, university staff and the wider community. There’s such a wealth of opportunities to see, experience and get involved with all kinds of arts endeavours across our campus, in Southampton and Winchester and beyond. It also offers me the chance to learn about all these amazing things myself! Whether that’s through societies or experiencing the local arts scene, there’s something for absolutely everyone to enjoy and get involved with!
Arts Ambassadors is a paid opportunity, supported by the Careers and Employability Service’s Excel Southampton Internship programme, University of Southampton.
