Elizabeth Cunningham

Civil Servant

I secured a placement for two weeks shadowing at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon. I had the most incredible opportunity to shadow and witness life and work in an American correctional facility.

Why I chose to attend Leeds Trinity and my best memories

I chose Leeds Trinity for the fantastic course materials and quality and opportunities that came with the graduate scheme linked with the masters. The assignments, time frame and course contents were all really engaging, accommodating and consistently challenging.

The best memories I have from the course centre around the people I met on the course and the amazing food on campus. I am extremely close to my fellow course mates and grateful for having them in my life. Even after the course, we still meet up regularly and catch up on life changes.  They are such a good, positive group to have met and I am so grateful for that.

Valuable placement opportunities

I secured a placement for two weeks shadowing at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon. I had the most incredible opportunity to shadow and witness life and work in an American correctional facility. Alongside the correctional staff, there were also Norwegian correctional Officers who shared their insight on Norwegian facilities and how effective they are. 

The experience was really inspiring and it made me realise how much our perceptions can be influenced by media depictions of correctional facilities and how much we can learn from international examples of good practice and share this knowledge.

Life after completing my MSc

I work as a Civil Servant as a Project Support Manager. I really enjoy the diversity of my role in the projects I help to lead and deliver and the people I work with. Every day is a new challenge for me and I really enjoy the variety of work I do.

My advice to prospective students thinking about doing a similar course

My advice to a prospective student wishing to start a similar course is: "persevere". Even when you think a day has passed and it was just an ordinary day, the amount of wins that were accomplished during that day can make it far from ordinary. Count the small wins and it'll all be worth it in the long run, just persevere!