We caught up with Theology first year, Nyah Hawkes, about studying theology at St Mary’s (SMU) and what it’s been like adjusting to university life.
Nyah has strong family links to SMU, with her mum and brother both former students at the University. Alongside her degree, Nyah plays netball and is active in society life on campus.
What made you choose Theology at St Mary’s?
I came from a Catholic primary school, Catholic secondary school, and a very Catholic family. My mum's an RE teacher, and she actually studied theology at St Mary’s. So it’s always been in the background for me, and it's something I really enjoyed studying at school. My brother also goes here and I’d visited before, so I’ve always seen St Mary’s as a place linked to my family.
I instantly fell in love with the sound of the course and it was very much what I wanted to do. The range of modules really appealed to me, and there was such a good contrast between religion, theology, history, and ethics.
St Mary’s was just a perfect fit for me. I really liked that it's a small university as I've come from a small school, and a big university was never really on the cards.
How have you found your lecturers and the course itself?
The lecturers are great, and if we need any help with essays or a topic we’re struggling with we know that they're very willing to do whatever they can.
Our classes are so interesting and engaging. I particularly enjoy our class discussions as we have students bringing their perspectives from a range of religious and non-religious backgrounds, as well as different cultures. We even have two trainee priests on our course from Thailand and Togo. For me, I’ve found talking to them really interesting as they bring such a different perspective to why they’re taking this course and what it means to dedicate your life to religion.
We have seminars on a specific topic, but then it becomes an open floor discussion. Recently, we were doing a world religions module and we were talking about the role of Catholicism in the world today. What was really interesting was getting to put across my point of view as a Catholic, but also hearing from an atheist point of view on what their perspective from an outsider looking in is.
Has there been a standout module so far?
There are so many, it’s hard to choose. We’ve studied religions that I’ve never studied before, like Jainism, which has been really interesting. I’ve also highly enjoyed our biblical interpretations class where we’ve looked at how the Bible actually came to be the Bible. I'm a Catholic, but I've never looked at it in that way before. So I think that’s the module that has stood out the most to me, because it's made me really re-evaluate things I thought were a given.
How have you found your time at St Mary’s?
I came through clearing so I only had about a month between sorting my place at St Mary’s to actually moving in. I was expecting this to be a really stressful time but it was the smoothest process I think I've ever been in. The University was so good, they sent me regular emails and made everything so easy. This has been reflective on my whole experience at St Mary’s, the University has helped me through so much. From the get-go, I’ve felt like they care about their students and really show that through their actions. I do netball too, so I'm part of societies outside of my halls which has helped me to get to know a lot more people.
Quite a few people from my family have gone here including my mum and brother, so it always just felt like a natural continuation and something that's always been here for me. I know in some universities you're in a lecture full of hundreds of people, but I don't feel like I'm just a name in the crowd. There’s such a friendly and personal aspect to studying here - my lecturers know who I am, what my work is like, and what I need. I walked in on my very first day and knew I’d made the right decision.
Where do you see yourself after graduation?
Before university, I did a four week humanitarian project in Kenya which is when I decided I really wanted to do something related to ethical charity work. After I graduate, I want to do my master’s and hopefully a PhD within ethics. After that, I’d love to work within an advisory government relations role at an NGO, either relating to climate change or human rights.
However, my biblical interpretations lecturer said he's got three years to try and convince me to go and be a biblical historian. So, we'll see...