Owner & creator of Pokkit Jay Sustainable & Ethically Sourced Clothing & AccessoriesCurrently specialising in recycled saris

www.fannieschiavoni.com

Master of the Arts degree: Passed with Merit

After spending the past 2 years teaching English with EF during the course of the summer, I returned for a third year to be a teacher and an activity leader. As a teacher I spent my time predominantly organising lessons, making sure they were engaging and fun for the students; of whom came from a hugely diverse range of ethnicities and backgrounds. For 5 days of the week I spent my time teaching lessons inside of the classroom, and on the weekends it was also my duty to take students on excursions to local areas of interest, including London, Oxford and Eastbourne, whilst also keeping these trips as educational an as all-English speaking as possible. Picking up any personal issues that the students were having was also an important part of my role, both as teacher and activity leader, and learning to be sensitive to cultural differences and learning styles both in and outside of the classroom. I believe these roles over the past 3 years have helped me greatly in picking up, resolving and troubleshooting possible issues, academically and personally, especially when working with a diverse range of different people.

My hostel duties included event organising, bartending, tour guiding, housekeeping, and working on reception.I spent some time working and living in India in a small hostel in northern Goa called Pappi Chulo. Having been there since the beginning of the hostel first being established, I have seen it build and grow into a successful and popular business. As well as working at the reception desk and helping with the housekeeping, I also worked behind the bar in the evenings and helped set up events, classes and festivals at the hostel. By having a knowledge of the surrounding area, it was also my job to make the guests feel welcome and take them to events and places of interest nearby. Pappi Chulo has gained widespread popularity in a short time and been mentioned in numerous blogs and travel guides. Some of these include: "40 Coolest Backpacker Hostels in India For a Transcending Experience" - https://www.triphobo.com/blog/best-backpacker-hostels-in-india?utm_source=fbafn&utm_medium=bkkd&utm_campaign=40-hostels-india "12 best hostels in Goa for a pocket-friendly vacation" -http://www.india.com/travel/articles/12-best-hostels-in-goa-for-a-pocket-friendly-vacation/"THE ULTIMATE LIST OF BEST HOSTELS IN GOA, JAISALMER, AND NEW DELHI" -http://www.stampthatpassport.com/the-ultimate-list-of-best-hostels-in-india/As well as having a 8.9 'fabulous' rating on hostelworld.com, and a 4.5 'excellent' rating on tripadvisor.co.uk

The reason I chose to take this job at the same time as working as a teacher, was due to my ambition to travel after the summer teaching season. By being able to successfully take on two intense workloads I exercised my ability to balance responsibilities at each, and solidified by ethic for hard work.

My work within the men's department of this retail company comprised mainly of working on the shop floor, being face to face with customers, replenishing stock, and occasional mannequin dressing. Being the only full time worker, besides my supervisor, in this department, I learnt lots of responsibilities from supervisors and people in managerial positions. I was lucky to be given lots of responsibility in terms of creating and working with a team that comprised of part time staff; being the one that spent the most time, and therefore attaining the most knowledge about the workings of the department.