Meet Ilsa
Philosophy BA Honours & Curating Art MA
About Ilsa
I started my journey at Newcastle when I got a place on the Philosophy BA Honours – I loved the city and the course! I went on to study the Curating Art MA and couldn’t have done my postgrad without both funding sources (a scholarship and the Alumni Discount – now the Graduate Discount).
After graduating from my MA in 2025, I was elected as the Students’ Union President and the year flew by! It was an honour and a privilege to represent the student community at Newcastle, and I achieved do much during this time:
- worked with The Courier team to create the 'Our Cultures, Our Communities' blog, presenting student stories about their time in Newcastle and about what culture meant to them
- contributed to key university projects, including Student Launchpad, which reformed the Personal Tutor scheme into Academic Advising
- attended the NUS lobby day for student loans with Gina, meeting with 2 MPs and appearing in pre-recorded interviews for the BBC
- introduced a Sabb/Senior Leaders Buddy scheme, linking sabbatical officers with a member of the University's Senior team.
My experience as the Students’ Union President at Newcastle has given me the leadership and communication skills I need to feel confident moving into the world of work.
From coffee dates to coastline adventures
It surprised me how compact the city is and how easy it is to get from one side to the other as well as all the way out to the coast!
I loved to be in the city with friends, visiting cafes and bars. My favourite thing to do was to hike with friends, and Newcastle is well placed in the North East to be able to access hikes in the country.
I also loved Newcastle’s amazing art scene with historical and contemporary galleries like the Laing and the Baltic, as well as different cultural venues all over.
There are too many favourite memories to count!
Being able to curate and project manage an exhibition in a gallery while doing my MA was an invaluable experience to have at 23.
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