Abigail Miller has always been community-minded. At the age of 11, she started volunteering at her local church’s breakfast club with her mum and hasn’t stopped!
Abigail is now 20 and studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Community Education at the University of the West of Scotland. Her direction is clear – she has her vision set on building a flourishing career in community learning and development (CLD).
Whilst at school, Abigail had a love of music, English and the arts, but struggled academically. It took until she was 16 to find out that she is dyslexic. Now in the 2nd year of her degree, Abigail feels that she has found her calling. She loves the course and has had great experiences with other students who come from all walks of life.
“I came across the community education course by accident, I didn’t know it was a ‘thing’! I wanted to do psychology, but after studying that for a year I realised it wasn’t for me, so I moved courses and absolutely love community education!”
Abigail is no slouch, she’s a earned A’s in most of her subjects, something she never felt she could have achieved during her school years. As a recognition of her efforts, Abigail received a court medal for being the top student in her course at university last year – not bad for a young woman who struggled at school and was told by some people she would be better applying to colleges instead of university!
Abigail also spends a few nights a week working with youth on the streets in East Dunbartonshire with ConnectED – an Includem project while also volunteering at her local church.
“I’m a people orientated person – I love hearing people’s stories and listening without judgement. Everything I’m doing is building on my learning. I also love being out and about – I could never work in an office!” she says.
Whilst Abigail is adamant that she will keep her options in CLD open, she feels a calling to continue her journey in youth work.
“Before uni, I had written off youth work, but I did a placement in first year with St James’ – a youth club – and I absolutely loved it! Now I can’t see myself going away from youth work. But I’m keen to look at doing a placement in drug and alcohol services too.”
She joined the CLD Standards Council in 2022 as a student member and has already seen loads of benefits and looks forward to building more networks over the years as her career takes off.
“Last year, I took part in an online forum run by the CLD Standards Council and felt really good about being involved. It’s great to find out through my study and the resources of the CLD Standards Council that a lot of what I’ve been doing in practice is theoretically ‘right’.”
When it comes to anyone thinking about choosing CLD as a career, Abigail can’t rate it highly enough.
“Definitely do it! Keep your options open and try and get as much experience volunteering in the sector to find out what you like doing.”
To find out more about membership of the CLD Standards Council click here