Luke Humphrey

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m originally from Bristol, and came up to Leeds in 2014 after falling in love with the city, university and the course. I also quite liked the distance from home. 

I took an A-level called World Development at Sixth Form and found it so inspiring and interesting that I had to study it further, and I am very pleased that I made that decision in hindsight.

Since being at Leeds, I have joined Leeds Student Radio and Newspaper, developing my interest in media, politics and music. I also volunteered for the Centre for Global Development, writing blogs on various events around campus and helping out during the CGD Summer School in 2016.

What motivated you to apply for your course at Leeds?

The course fit me to a tee. I had previously studied a similar subject at Sixth Form and loved it. The course offered a wide range of subjects on development, and had a great faculty who all seemed really passionate and engaged in what they taught.

Also Leeds itself is a great city, quite similar to Bristol in terms of size, demographics and culture, but also far enough away from Bristol that I got a real sense of independence and didn’t travel home too often.

Tell us about your summer work placement.

One of my highlights is working for the Centre for Global Development over the summer and getting to write for them - that was a really good opportunity that Leeds offered to me. Also working for LSR and Leeds Student Newspaper has been really fun and I have made some great friends doing so.

Have you been involved in any other extra-curricular activities?

I have worked for various blogs and magazines like Darrow, ArtRocker and Development in Action. The latter, Development in Action, is a charity which I have also worked with as a committee member, running the blog and helping as part of the Communications team. This charity is great, does awesome work both in the UK and in India, and is youth-led so offers opportunities to students to really get involved with the running of a charity.

What have been the highlights of your course so far?

I’m not sure if I have any specific highlights of my course per say, but I have thoroughly enjoyed certain modules such as Global Development Challenges, International Development Social Policy, Development Approaches and Practices - pretty much all of the development orientated modules.

What do you think of the facilities?

I think I have almost always found facilities at the university helpful and plentiful. The School of Politics and International Studies almost always has some work space free between floor 12 and 13. It would be nice if there was a couple more computer/printer spaces so that I don’t have to pack up and go to the library if I need anything printed off whilst I work.

How would you describe the guidance you've received?

Most staff members are really helpful, encouraging and enthusiastic. As far as I can remember, all staff in the development modules are really friendly and you feel like they really want to see you do well, because they love what they do and want to see students succeed.