Alumni

Nela Angelova

Career Path: Animator, Concision
Location: Durham, UK

When I was younger I saw one of Dreamworks' animations "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron", and I thought to my self - how cool would it be if one day I can do that, if I can animate and create inspiring stories. When I was ready to go to university, I decided to move to England and begin my study as an animator. I was at Northumbria for 4 years, lots of good experiences, hard times, networking. And after all that I never lost hope that one day I will be an Animator. I went to one of Northumbria's networking events in December 2018, 3 months later I am now working as an Animator. So it all speaks for itself.

What are you doing now?

I am a full time animator, I also work on personal projects in my free time.

What was it about Northumbria that

made you decide to study here?

The vibe of Newcastle as a city. It was the second city I got to experience since I came to live in England, and I just felt at home. The people, the opportunities, the respect and the fact that you're just accepted for who you are. Northumbria is the face of all of that, the huge community of talented mentors and lecturers, who will always push you beyond what you thought you can do, and will make you believe that you can achieve everything that you want. But overall if I could describe Northumbria University with one word it will be "Family ".

What was it like studying at Northumbria?

It was a different and unique experience. I got to work on lots of interesting projects, and collaborate with teams to get an insight of what it is like to be part of an actual team in the industry. We also had a lot of really useful sessions with people from the industry, who came and shared their story with us. It helped me to understand that everyone starts from somewhere, and that if this person could have made it to "The Mill" then I could make it too. Also during my study I have developed a project called "The Animators", which is a collaboration of young artists who came together to create one animation, at the end I put together a team of 17 students from Northumbria and Sunderland University. It was a great experience, and I was only able to take on on this initiative because of what Northumbria taught me - there isn't a dream that is too big for you.

How connected was your course with industry?

My course has always tried to encourage us to attend different events such as an animation festival and industry talks. It was great to find out that one of my lecturers was one of the animators on "The Mummy" - being surrounded by people like this does gives you lots of respect and courage to follow your heart.

What was the best thing about your course?

The fact that I was able to engage and create with anyone not just with people from my course. Northumbria is open and free for everyone, there are lots of facilities and technology to help us create what we wanted.

How did studying at Northumbria help you achieve your career goals/ give your career an edge?

It helped me to understand that it doesn't really matter how talented you are, but how many connections you have managed to build. Northumbria organises different events to help students to connect with companies, and I think this is really helpful and necessary in order to get your feet in the industry.

Which skills/knowledge did you learn on your course that you use most now throughout your career?

How to collaborate and work in a team.

What did you enjoy most about your time at Northumbria University?

The diversity of the people.

What advice would you give somebody who is considering studying at Northumbria?

Do it. Whatever questions you have, there is only one way to figure out. You might never end up where you want, but you will always experience something, meet someone and create more things that will always be useful to you, no matter where you end up next.