Creative Sparks: Where are they now? Jane Goodland
It's been over 10 years since we launched the Creative Sparks programme and many of the young people involved have gone on to great things! We thought we'd do a series of blogs with some of the original Creative Sparks to see what they did with the programme and where they are now. We caught up with Jane Goodland to see what she's getting up to and how the programme developed her talent.
How did you get involved with Creative Sparks?
I first got involved in creative sparks when I entered the Planet Scicast film competition and was approached by the Ignite! team at the awards ceremony.
What did you do as part of the Creative Sparks programme?
The main thing I was trying to develop during my time with Creative Sparks was my communication of scientific ideas. The thing I am most proud of creating during the programme was a short book about scientific research. For this I spoke to a range of Science PhD students and then tried to write the technical details in a way that could be understood by people with no scientific background.
How has your career developed since then?
I went into teaching after my degree in order to continue developing my ability to explain and communicate. This didn't work out for me as there were so many other aspects to teaching that got in the way. I recently moved into software development and have not worked out where my future will go from here!
What kind of role does creativity play in your life?
Creativity is hugely important to me and I am not happy at work or in my personal life unless I am doing something creative. This could be thinking creatively and solving problems, or it could be making something tangible or visible. When communicating I get to see both of these aspects - there is the problem solving involved in working out how to lay out the ideas and concepts, and there is the tangible result as I see how the person I am speaking to reacts, or see my own explanation taking shape.