Carrie Draude BA Music

Technical Co-ordinator, Disney (and Events Marketing Manager, Nkoda (as of Jan 2019))

I studied BA Music at the University of Southampton. I currently work as a technical co-ordinator at Disney. Although my degree was not essential to this job, a number of skills developed during my studies have been extremely useful in this role. For instance, I found that balancing academic demands with social aspects was very important during my studies at Southampton.

I only started researching film and film music late into my second year, but discovering this realm was SO exciting, and began paving the way for everything that came after my degree. Staying true to that passion (as cheesy as it sounds) has been paramount to my career opportunities so far, and I will always put that drive first.

 Maintaining this work/social life balance helped prepare me for my Masters degree, where the stakes were even higher. Something else which I initially learned at Southampton, and which has stuck with me since, is knowing when to ask for help. I avoided open hours throughout the whole of first year because I thought I would seem incapable if I asked for help on an assignment, before finding out how helpful it was to just own up to being stuck and to go through my woes with a lecturer. There was a point at the beginning of my career at Disney where I felt frustrated with my workload and wanted to be challenged more. So, I organised a chat with the Director of my department, which lead to extra training followed by an opportunity to apply for a brand new role, which I secured within the month. So, asking for help in order to enhance one's own development is crucial.

One last thing that I learned at Southampton, and which helped me after university, was the importance of identifying the things I was most passionate about. I only started researching film and film music late into my second year, but discovering this realm was SO exciting, and began paving the way for everything that came after my degree. Staying true to that passion (as cheesy as it sounds) has been paramount to my career opportunities so far, and I will always put that drive first.

I am about to start a new job as Events Marketing Manager at Nkoda, a digital sheet music subscription service, where I expect to use the skills developed during my degree even more!