A Road Less Travelled

Alumni Relations
Tuesday 18 May 2021

Alex Shaw (MA 2017) describes how she took a risk and embraced a career in photography after she graduated – thanks largely to the University of St Andrews Boat Club

The road to St Andrews

My path to St Andrews was rather unconventional – much like the rest of my life since.

My first trip outside the USA was to Scotland for my cousin’s wedding when I was 17 years old. The ceremony held in Sallies Chapel was stunning, West Sands took my breath away and of course my first flat white from Taste really sealed the deal. I fell in love with the Bubble within 24 hours. No recruiter came to my high school and I hadn’t even thought about studying in the UK before a wedding on a perfectly sunny summer’s day in Fife made it seem the only place to study. I submitted my applications to St Andrews and Florida (the only other university I applied to) and received an offer to study an MA Management undergraduate degree here. The rest is history.

A career in photography – via the Boat Club

I didn’t take part in any sport during my first two years of University. It was only in my third year that it occurred to me I should try something completely new. Naturally, true to my unconventional self, I thought that rowing would be a great thing to throw myself into because – apart from dancing when I was growing up – I had little athletic experience. Thankfully, it was an excellent program to join as a novice. And thankfully, I survived.

During my four years at St Andrews, I also developed a true passion for photography – initially inspired by the beauty of Scotland – and took every available opportunity to go out with my camera and develop my skills.

While I was making these choices in my life outside my studies, it also occurred to me while I was applying for jobs in my fourth year that the career path I had anticipated – joining some sort of graduate scheme to climb the corporate ladder with my business-related degree – didn’t use my creativity and left me feeling completely underwhelmed.

I received enough rejections to make me decide to risk pursuing the life of a freelance photographer. It has been the most rewarding choice I could have made.

My time with the University of St Andrews Boat Club (UStABC) set me up for success in this career.  I had to develop a huge amount of self-discipline in and out of the boat. To do well during training, my focus had to be unwaveringly sharp – much like sitting down to edit a set of 3,000+ images, looking out for every detail. With training sessions sandwiching my day of lectures, tutorials, meetings and eating (lots and lots of eating), my lifestyle meant there was little room for messing around when it came to meeting deadlines.

This mindset has carried over into my day-to-day work life: freelancing comes with the freedom to schedule your own life, but the cost is having to develop self-motivation. Structure is critical for success – especially when every day is different. I learned that lesson firsthand as a rower and it’s been essential to my career. Showing up consistently to our 20+ hours of weekly training – even when I lacked the motivation – is what developed my capacity to persevere and to push through my discomfort threshold. Going from a novice who knew nothing about the sport to the top boat at Women’s Henley and making it to quarter-finals only a year and a half later demonstrated the value of a committed work ethic.

When I was with the team – but not in the boat – I was able to develop my skills in sport and action photography. Throw anyone into a launch during a cold, choppy, rainy day at Lochore to take photographs and they will undoubtedly learn to control a camera in the trickiest of circumstances. As a result, my skills in capturing subjects in motion exponentially improved and the images I collected over time even helped me to land a campaign shoot with Lululemon back here in the States.

The road less travelled …

Working in the creative sphere is a rollercoaster as the career path can be messy and undefined. Unlike entering a traditional career ladder structure, I had no idea where my path was leading me, but I knew what I valued and what gave me a sense of purpose.

It’s fun. It’s rewarding. It’s scary. It’s all the things that make me excited to work! I can see a future beyond Covid restrictions where I will be travelling with photography again. Meanwhile I love working with the clients I have here in the States.

Follow your passions and your dreams

I look back fondly at my time in St Andrews. The people I met through the boat club gave me some of my most cherished memories, as well as the confidence to go out and follow my passions and my dreams in the ‘real world’. I will be forever grateful to my team!

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