"The course at Lewisham Southwark College has changed my life. I feel like I’ve really grown, been challenged, exposed, and come out the other side. I owe nearly everything I’ve achieved this year to Karla and the College."
Star drama student Selina Jones has won an unconditional place to study at the highly prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff – along with three other offers on competitive courses – and says she owes her success to the year she has spent at the College studying drama at Level 3.
Having achieved excellent A level results (an A and two B grades), she auditioned for drama schools without success, and was advised to come to Lewisham Southwark College by a teacher, originally with the idea of studying hair and beauty. She quickly opted to pursue her first love: acting.
She says: “I’ve had a love of the stage since I saw ‘The Lion King’ in the West End when I was seven, but I think it was my first drama lesson in Year 7 that really got me into acting – it was the best fun I’d had in secondary school and I just wanted that to continue.
Her year at the College has given her “a lot of skills and new knowledge, friends, new experiences and confidence in my ability and commitment to this career.” It has also prepared for her the gruelling process of competing against thousands of other hopefuls for a place at a top drama school.
She admits: “It has terrifying but also amazing, and my tutor Karla Ptacek has helped me at every step of the way. We do regular audition practice in class which helps you to overcome the nerves when you bare your soul to a couple of straight-faced panellists! I was much more prepared this year, and you can see the difference in my work and in the outcome.
Having secured four amazing offers and due be recalled for second auditions at three others (including LAMDA), Selina is now in the enviable position of choosing where she wants to study. She says: “The course at Lewisham Southwark College has changed my life. I feel like I’ve really grown, been challenged, exposed, and come out the other side. I owe nearly everything I’ve achieved this year to Karla and the College.”
