Sofia took part in the Creative Pathways programme with Impact Arts in Glasgow. This project has been a hugely influential part of her life. It gave her an outlet to creatively express her experiences and work as part of a team. She shared that she suffered with severe anxiety, this made school extremely difficult for her “I wasn’t actually able to graduate because my mental health had declined so badly that I wasn’t able to finish, and it wasn’t for lack of trying”. These personal challenges impacted the way she saw the world and the future she could have.
“I always loved to write, that’s what I love to do.”
Taking part in Creative Pathways changed her visions for her future, she states that “I always loved to write, that’s what I love to do, and it kind of morphed into this idea of like, “I want to learn how to make films,” kind of thing because we’d gone and done this research project and it was because our end project was like a gallery exhibition.” The support and skills she gained with the project allowed her to realise her passions and gain experience in them, “I had all these different opportunities coming just from the fact I did Creative Pathways.”
The art exhibition that she collaborated in focused on the relationship with the environment and human consumption. “We did plaster moulding, but using paper cups and rubbish that we threw away and casting them and displaying them. It was really, really interesting that way of making something that’s so bad for the environment and so transitory into something quite permanent”. Her time on the programme has profoundly changed the way she engages with the environment and it gave her “more of an appreciation of… what small things in nature can do for you”. Being environmentally conscious continues to impact her everyday life and her practice as a film-maker. She describes how she now tries to be environmentally conscious with her art, such as utilising eco-friendly ways to develop film instead of harmful chemicals.
“I had all these different opportunities coming just from the fact I did Creative Pathways.”
Sofia’s experience with Creative Pathways was overwhelmingly positive, in the interview she shared that “there’s some kind of magic in what they do”. By this she means that the skills, confidence and experience they offer young people are invaluable. She describes how her confidence and leadership skills were improved from taking part in the programme, “it’s given me so much confidence, I was able to start doing more different projects and push myself. Having that experience and having that support has definitely allowed me to share it with others”.
“It’s given me so much confidence, I was able to start doing more different projects and push myself.”
She maintains a strong relationship with Creative Pathways and is the youngest member on the Impact Arts board. “I am part of the Board now at Impact Arts, like the official – I know, it’s really crazy”. Within this role she is advocating for other marginalised young people to find greater representation in the arts and environment sector. “As part of the Board I’m definitely championing for more diversity”. The support she received from the team at Creative Pathways has helped in achieving A’s in her Higher National Diploma. Now she is studying to be a film-maker at Edinburgh Napier University. “The fact that I even got into university after coming out of high school with nothing other than Nat 5s was like for me a really big thing”