Emma Sophie Wright

What impressed me about LMC was the campus. It had a lovely atmosphere, and was easy to navigate. The animal care department also has some fantastic facilities, including a rodent room, exotics room, and an outdoor area for rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and ferrets

Emma originally studied BSc Psychology at Lancaster University, and although she loved the course, she always found herself drawn to the natural world.

Emma minored in Ecology and Conservation, and in her final year dissertation she investigated how to counter stereotypes surrounding less popular animals. However, she also quickly realised she did not want to sit at a desk all day! So, upon graduating, she decided to pursue her passion of working in the animal care industry.

I had little experience in the field, and looked for animal care courses in my local area that could give me the training I required. As I live in Lancaster, studying at LMC was the natural choice, and so I enrolled on the Animal Management Level 3 course for the 22/23 academic year.

Emma said she was really impressed about the Campus here at LMC and when we asked her what she enjoyed the most about it, she said

It had a lovely atmosphere, and was easy to navigate. The animal care department also has some fantastic facilities, including a rodent room, exotics room, and an outdoor area for rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, and ferrets. The staff are very friendly and approachable, and always happy to answer questions or assist with a task.

As part of her studies, she underwent a work placement, like all students do here at LMC. This was one of her favourite bits about the course.

My work placement was at the Canine Company, a dog walkers based in Lancaster. I loved spending my Mondays up in the hills, walking dogs all day, and it gave me some great insights into the industry. I was also able to help out with obedience and agility training classes run by my supervisor. Furthermore, I really enjoyed practical lessons in class, and they helped me gain confidence in how to care for and handle different animal species.

Currently Emma is working as an Animal Care Assistant at Animal Care, an animal rescue shelter based in Lancaster and she said

To put it simply, it is the best job ever! The shelter is huge, and has a kennels, cattery, rabbit room, and spaces for our goats, chickens, and resident turkey, Twitch. Every day I am assigned an area, and I am responsible for the welfare of all the animals within it, which includes cleaning, preparing food and water, health checks, giving medication, and of course giving lots of cuddles! A big portion of my day is also spent walking the large number of dogs at the shelter, with the help of our team of volunteers. It is genuinely one of those jobs that I would happily do for free, and there is nothing better than seeing a long-term resident get adopted by a loving family.

Emma took an active role in student life at LMC, and was a student governor, a class rep, and did work as student ambassador also. All of these positions taught her invaluable skills that are transferable to the working world. As a student governor, Emma was able to attend board meetings, gaining valuable insights about governance and finance, and wrote her own report which she presented to the board. As a class rep, she learnt how to work alongside her class to ensure that their voices were heard and created minutes of meetings that were presented at bi-annual conferences. Finally, as a student ambassador, Emma interacted with the public regularly and attended external events, and once even met the Prime Minister.

All of these skills have helped me navigate my current job that much more successfully. Without undergoing this course, there is no way I would be able to be in the job I am today. Taking this course meant I was able to undergo real-life industry experience, whilst also gaining a wide knowledge of theory and the practical skills required to perform animal care tasks.

We asked Emma what did she take away from her time here at LMC as a student and she said

As someone with ASD and a lot of anxiety, attending LMC has had such a positive impact on my life. At university, I always shrank away from potential opportunities and positions, believing they were not meant for me. However, LMC has really given me the space to grow my confidence and take on more responsibilities, and shown me how much fun it can be!

Since graduating a few months ago, Emma says her biggest accomplishment has definitely been landing her new job. It was a highly contested position with a lot of interest, and despite being against applicants with more experience, Emma was able to secure the position, which she believes was due to the amount of extracurricular involvement and training she was able to participate in whilst on this course.

We asked Emma what she would say to someone who was thinking about doing the course, and she said

If you want to have a career in animal care, I would definitely recommend this course. Without it, I would not have been able to secure the wonderful job that I have today and I learned so much in one short year! I would also say, don’t be afraid to try new things. Look for new opportunities and engage in college life, as it won’t just help your career, it will help grow your confidence and really round out the LMC experience.