Reena Jaisiah

Client:: Sociology - BA (Hons)

Graduated in 2003

Reena Jaisiah was recognised as one of the Alumni of the Year in 2013 for her work on Community Engagement and Leadership. She is involved in a number of projects which help to bring diverse communities together, fitting the work around her full-time role as a curriculum support officer in an inner-city school.

I was attracted to the course because I wanted to tackle social issues, but I wasn't expecting to go to university because I wasn't a very academic person and people had told me that I couldn't do it. However, Birmingham City University was very supportive.

The course was fantastic – the teaching was very practical and everything was explained to us so that we could apply it to everyday life. In my second year, I did a placement with an arts project in Birmingham which provided a great background for a lot of the projects I'm involved in now. It really inspired me – I was thrown in at the deep end and excelled, and if I hadn't done it, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.