Follow your dreams

Justina Stasenaite has just finished her Level 3 AAT Accountancy course and is well on the way to making her dreams come true. She always enjoyed working with numbers and dreamed of one day working in an office, so felt accounting would be something she could be good at. As she worked in a factory since coming to England 5 ½ years ago, she had to complete her studies in the evenings on a part-time course, committing herself to two nights a week at Rotherham College.  In March Justina, aged 28, successfully applied for a job at Marsden Group in their finance department and commented; “I loved the job from the start, I’m so pleased I made the effort to follow my dreams. If I hadn’t taken the first step I’m sure I would have remained in the factory for years.”

“I would definitely recommend this course, in fact I already have, to a Level 2 student who asked me about progressing onto Level 3.  I told her, if it’s something you really want then don’t give up, it may be hard at times but worth it in the long run.  Look at me, I now have a good career ahead of me, in a great environment, feeling valued. Can’t beat that feeling.”

Now is the ideal time to look at your options to either improve your job prospects, develop a new career path, retrain for a new job or even consider going onto university. Want a brighter future, then you need to start believing it can happen and invest in you.

Rotherham College offers a wide range of courses for adults across all levels from introductory part-time and short course through to professional qualification and Higher Education including Degrees. Our Access to HE Diploma courses are ideal for preparing you for university and will give you the confidence knowledge and academic skills required to be successful in your chosen path.

We also have different options available to try and reduce any financial barriers to studying such as free courses if your household income is below £26,000 and you have no formal qualifications, also if you are 19-23 and haven’t completed a full Level 2 or Level 3 qualification you could study for free. There are also Advanced Learning Loans available or you can spread your payments by instalments. Feel free to contact the college if you wish to discuss any of these options on 01709 722777.

Another success story is Kirsty Lewin who returned to study after having her family came from a Beauty Therapy background and chose a Media Make-up Level 3 course at Rotherham College to refresh and update her skills.

Kirsty, now 29, is just completing the second year of her Certificate in Education at Rotherham College. She is learning the practical skills she needs to become a teacher in the subject that she feels the most passion for; body art.

Kirsty is currently teaching students who are doing their Media Make-up Level 2 qualification. “It’s great to be teaching. I’ve been given the opportunity to give skills back to students that I was taught. Not in a million years did I think I’d teach here at Rotherham College, I have been very lucky.”

Kirsty is hoping that by the time she has completed her teaching qualification, the degree will be on offer at Rotherham College and she will be able to develop her skills even further.

Kirsty said: “I didn’t see taking on the loan as a bad thing, I saw it as investing in myself and my future. It’s worth doing.”