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At Ashford College and as part of the EKC Group, we believe firmly in making sure that every student has the chance to show off their potential. We saw this recently with one of our own students performing in the Canterbury College annual Drag Show and went along to watch his performance.
Grant is currently studying our Access to HE as one of our 19+ learners, enabling him to get to University. He has been with us at Ashford College for a few years now, previously studying Health and Social Care. He is also part of our Student Union, which alongside the rest of the team they are currently preparing for our next Celebration of Culture event. On Wednesday 22nd, he brought some culture of his own to Canterbury College, who hosted an annual Drag Show. This show allows students across the Group and in the local community the chance to show off their talents and skills.
After seeing this event be promoted online, Grant decided he would sign up and give it a go, following up from his previous experience of dancing at Canterbury Pride and working at Glitterbomb. Having been doing Drag for a while, as well as gaining qualifications in makeup technology, this was a great opportunity for his first ever live Drag performance in front of a big crowd. Arriving to Canterbury College on the morning of the show, the Drag Queens and Kings who took part got ready in the Beauty Salon, before hanging out in the Student Union before and during performances. There were other students on the day who were also performing for the very first time, and it was great to see them all really support and encourage other before the show.
Performing as Miss Shippy Rose, Grant performed not one, but two lip-syncs to songs. These were 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor and 'Valerie' by Amy Winehouse. These were very well received by the student audience, and were a lot of fun to watch in person. It was a great atmosphere, with students gathering all around the runway to cheer the performers on.
Speaking after the show, Grant said of his college experience, "I feel like its given the confidence to actually do more with my life, and bring out my confidence to actually do this as well. I'd say that at College you can be more yourself, you can enjoy yourself a lot more and build up your confidence as you study."