Pasha's passion for IT pays off with top York College Graduation award

Pretty much as soon as he could walk, Pasha was fascinated by IT and, during six years of study at Sim Balk Lane, he was able to progress from a Level 1 Introduction Diploma to graduation from our Foundation Degree in Digital Technologies (Cybersecurity).

His achievements on the Institute of Technology-supported course also saw him presented with the prestigious Governors’ Award at our University Centre’s Graduation Day Ceremony in September amid the magnificent setting of York Minster.

During his time at College, Pasha also gained a Level 2 qualification in Digital Games Production and a Level 3 Diploma in IT, while studying and passing his GSCEs in Maths and English Language on Campus, too.

Reflecting on his graduation and progress since first enrolling at College in 2018, Pasha said: “I got a Merit from my Foundation Degree, which I’m pretty happy with and it was a big honour to graduate. 

“All my long hours of studying have finally paid off. I wanted to stay at College for my Higher Education straight from the start. 

“I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do, because I have always loved IT. I even have a picture of myself at the age of three playing games on a computer!

“But I also have a creative side to me. So, I started with IT and ended with Cybersecurity, with a bit of creativity with Game Design in the middle.” 

On the benefits of progressing through the different educational stages with College, Pasha went on to point out: “There are so many opportunities when you’re going from one year to the next at the college and staying on for your Higher Education means you don’t have to get used to a new place. I think I would have found that a bit stressful. 

“Here, if I didn’t know something, I could reach out to staff that I already knew. They were always there to support me and you knew what to expect from them.”

Originally from Ukraine, Pasha spent most of his early life in Russia before moving to the UK with his parents due to work reasons at the age of seven.

Understandably, with English not being his first language, the switch from one education system to another was not always easy and he is grateful for the help College provided to get him to the position where he was able to pass his GCSE exams.

“I did my GCSEs at College and the teachers were very supportive, because I had some problems keeping up at school when I had to go back to my home country for a period of time,” he explained.

Pasha has now progressed on to the Cybersecurity Top-Up Degree, which he will study remotely with The Open University.

He admits that he enjoys the distance learning model, but will always have fond memories of his College tutors.

“I’ll miss the teachers,” he confessed. “A lot of them are very friendly.

“Nicola (Blofeld) has been my tutor since my first year and has been very supportive. Craig, who has moved on, also taught me Game Design and gave me a lot of inspiration.

“It was one of the most inspiring and amazing years I have had as the whole class of 20 people always hung out together inside and outside of College. We all became friends and still are. 

“Richard (Hind) has also been very supportive. In my last year of Game Design, he pitched the idea of me progressing onto the Cybersecurity Foundation Degree, which was something I was interested in and I decided to go with it and those two years were amazing.

“I really enjoyed the course and I think there are a lot of possibilities that can come from it and desirable places and companies that I could work for.”

Pasha already believes, meanwhile, that the course has equipped him with skills that he is now applying to his part-time job in animation.

“I work part-time dubbing cartoons as a manager and use my cybersecurity skills for that as most of the work is remote,” he explained. “So, I assist staff in terms of setting everything up and providing the services they need to do their work.

“Everything I learned on the course has been very beneficial. For example, developing my writing and presenting skills was a massive thing for me because, at school, I struggled with English as I only learned it when I moved here.” 

Did you know York College are launching a Cybersecurity & the Digital Environment T Level in September 2025? You can learn more about it here

For more information on our full University Centre offering, please click here

A full list of our Institute of Technology-supported courses can be found here

You can also find out more about our full course offering and meet tutors at our next Open Event on Saturday 23rd November from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Register a place by clicking here