Ayyappadas was working as a freelance visual effects and motion graphics artist even before he graduated in the summer of 2013. He has gone on to work as a Video editor and Graphics artist at the prestigious "Banff Centre for arts and Creativity" in Banff, Alberta, Canada. He is currently working as a Broadcast Video graphics operator and motion designer at CTV television network which is the largest private broadcaster in Canada. Leeds Beckett University has been the first stepping stone for making that dream possible. He changed his career from a purely technical programming field in to a creative arena which was exactly what he dreamt of doing when he came in to the University back in Sept 2012.

Ayyappadas knew very quickly that our university was for him when he was applying: “I wanted to pursue my dream of becoming a visual effects artist – I was searching for a suitable course that would satisfy my curiosity. I found a near-perfect course in the prospectus and then there was no stopping me!”

University isn’t the only thing to have captured Ayyappadas’s fancy – he is acutely aware of the importance of community, and has also worked on design products for firms throughout the city, including Voodoo Events, and the FUEL events held by our Students’ Union.

This involvement in the community extended outside of study and jobs, however. Ayyappadas has long been involved in charity work, particularly in his native country of India. During his early school years, he was involved in procuring vital aid items for hospitals, and taking classes for children who could not afford education elsewhere. This developed further when he came to the University: “I was offered a position as an international global ambassador, and I rebooted my volunteering life! I also helped the British Heart Foundation and Arthritis Research UK, both in their shops and in street campaigning.”

Thanks to such experiences, Ayyappadas is highly enthusiastic about how our University has helped to shape his life: “I would give anything and everything to be a student there again! It is the only time in a person’s life where their only duty is just to study, and I had so much more fun at Leeds Beckett!”

It is no surprise, then, that Ayyappadas would happily recommend our University to others: “Students will never feel alone because there is always someone around the corner who is ready to help you out.”