Studied BTEC PE and Science

Now studying Sport Therapy at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton

Age: 21
Completed course: 2010

How did the course help you progress onto your chosen career choice/uni course?
Because I was really interested in helping people and massage, it really helped me develop those interests, and I was always into sport.

Did you feel prepared when you left the college to go on to uni?
I think I was, in some aspects. I thought I was ready for uni, but then obviously you’ve got the living side of it as well. So, in that way, maybe not really.

What do you enjoy most about university placement?
Meeting new people and getting to work with a wide variety of people.

Do you get hands-on experience? Do you learn on placement?
Yeah, we’ve done loads of football stadiums and then I’ve done cadaver days so it's really hands-on. Every day is different but it’s better than just sitting in a classroom.

How did you know sports therapy was for you?
I don’t think I did know for sure until I started studying it. There are so many of different aspects of it.

Did you do a lot of research beforehand?
I did, but then I wasn’t sure whether to do sport science or sport therapy because they’re quite different.

What advice would you give someone when they’re applying to uni?
Make sure you’re applying for the right reasons, not going because your friends are going, things like that.

In terms of your personal statement, what would you advise?
Try to be truthful but sell yourself, because that’s what uni’s are kind of looking for – people who are hard working and up for a challenge. Concentrate on your good points and talk about them.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to be a sport therapist?
You’ve got to have the stomach for it and you’ve got to be willing to sit and learn because there's a lot of studying to do. For every hour in class you have to do about three hours out of class to keep up to date. You’ve got to have extra studying time, you’ve got to make the effort.

What do you mean when you say "you’ve got to have the stomach for it"?
It can be very gruesome. We’ve worked on cadavers and we’ve seen dead bodies and so we’ve touched them and worked with them. It’s not as bad as it sounds! You’re literally just pulling the muscles and ligaments and stuff but you have to have a good stomach for that!

What skills do you think are important for a Sports Therapist to have?
Confidence. You have to have confidence. If you’re running to help someone who's injured you can’t really just stand there and be like "I don’t know what to do" or "I don’t want to do it".  You just have to get on with it, even if it's blood and broken bones. You just have to do it.

What qualities do you think makes a good Sports Therapist?
You’ve got to have good timekeeping and like I said, confidence. You’ve got to be up for a challenge. All of those kinds of things. You’ve got to be able to get along with a team and also be able to work on your own.

You started off doing beauty but switched to sport. How was that transition, going home and telling your parents you wanted to completely change?
I think my parents always knew. I wasn't a very girly girl but they could see I didn’t want to stay in beauty because I wanted to go on to university. We had a look at some uni’s and when we went to Bedfordshire I decided I wanted to go there.

Lastly, where do you see yourself in five years time?
I don’t know, there are so many things I can do now. I could go off and do physiotherapy, or I could do nutrition. With sport therapy there are a lot of different areas you can go into but I think I'll go into physio or nutrition I think.

Studied Travel & Tourism, Leisure & Tourism and Performing Arts

Now Artistic Director of a street theatre company in Hampshire

Age: 25
Completed course: 2008

Which courses did you study at Harlow College?
I studied Travel and Toursim, Leisure and Tourism and Performing Arts. I did one year of BTEC Diploma Performing Arts and I then went on to do National Diploma Performing Arts.

What you are doing now?
I'm the Artistic Director of a Hampshire based street theatre company. We run artistic workshops, from puppetry to clowning to group theatre work, art installations, fire shows, things like that.

What do you find most enjoyable?
I find art installations the most rewarding because I use sound and imagery together in an artistic way, using material that my audience can relate to and get involved with. Some people cry, some people laugh, some people just don’t know how to take the experience. So I think combining different elements is what I like most about doing installations.

What are your responsibilities in the business?
I’m the Artistic Director of the company. I do clowning, fire work and art installations. My partner is the Workshop Director and administrator, he also does puppetry and clowning.

How many people are involved?
It all depends on what type of work that we do, but when we go out but we have up to 26 people involved.

Going back to your time here at Harlow College. I’m guessing it was the performing arts course that inspired you do what you’re doing now?
It was. I loved it so much and I loved performing on stage. We did a performance called All Sorts in the theatre. I started then to look into the history of clowning and I started to create my own character. I created him from scratch and performed him and I enjoyed performing it so much that my tutor at the time booked me onto the Winchester University open day and said "go and look at this course". It was the first time the course had been run, so we were the guinea pigs in a way. I said “okay, cool, lets go.” So I went and had a look at the course, and I was like, wow, this is what I want to be doing.

So your tutor was partly responsible for pointing you in the right direction?
Oh, definitely! I really take my hat off to the tutor because I would never have looked at that course otherwise.

So was the guidance and the support you got here at the college beneficial to you?
Absolutely. It was fantastic here. There was always someone to talk to, always someone to ask advice from, and they definitely helped to push me in the right direction. They never kind of said, "oh, no, you don’t want to do that".

What would be your advice be to someone applying to university?
Go and look at a couple of universities. If you can find out who your lecturers might be, Google them as well. The reason I say that is I googled and I found out the lecturer was a master of clowning, he was a doctor of movement and his background was phenomenal.

Any tips for anyone writing their application to uni?
I might not be the best person to ask that because I wasn’t great at writing my university application because I was still nervous at the time.

Did our Guidance team here help you with that?
Yeah, they helped me a lot. I can’t remember the name of the lady who helped me but she was fantastic, and I kept coming back everyday to get it right. She was always there and she would always book me in.

Someone may be inspired by your story, think they would like to do what you do, but don’t really know much about it – what advice would you give them?
Well, going back to when I first started, I didn’t know much about it really, just the history of clowning. So when I got to university, I did everything they offered me, from stilt walking, to unicycling, to juggling, everything. Do everything you can and embrace everything you can and soon enough you'll find your feet.

Keeping an open mind I guess, as well?
Definitely keep an open mind because the theatre and the street are totally different, but keep an open mind and always push yourself as far as you can.

Painting and Decorating Apprenticeship

Working as a Painter and Decorator

Age: 22
Completed course: 2011

So, what are you doing now after leaving college?
I finished my apprenticeship and then I just carried on working with the person I did the apprenticeship with for the past few years. In between I’ve done a lot of my own work, trying to build up a good reputation.

What work do you do on your own? Is it just painting and decorating or do you do other things?
I like to just do painting and decorating. It’s mostly domestic work, so in houses. I rarely do commercial work.

When you left college did you feel prepared going into your job?
Yeah, really prepared. I think it was all the practical work we were doing. It gave me a good insight into the job. It gave me confidence to go out into the workplace.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Meeting new people. I’d hate to do office work because you’re in the same place all the time and I like meeting new people and traveling. Plus I like the work, I really enjoy the job.

Do your skills vary from job to job?
Yeah, because it could be wallpapering, lining or it could be just general painting, preparation of woodwork, outside or inside, it’s really different.

How did you find out about apprenticeships here in the college?
I was doing my course and the tutor told me there were apprenticeships happening and asked if I was interested in participating.

Did you find your tutors supportive?
Yeah, very.

If someone was doing a college course and they really wanted to do an apprenticeship, what advice would you give them?
Don’t be worried about it, because everyone is in it together and they’re all friendly people.

What advice would you give to someone who is leaving school and wants to apply for an apprenticeship?
It’s definitely the best choice to make, because you learn on site, you know? So, you’re learning in a class at college but then you’re also putting it into practice when you work on it.

What skills do you think a person needs to go into your career?
People person. Get along with people. You have to be trustworthy, going into people's homes so you have to be respectful I suppose.

Have you got to be good at teamwork?
Well, I work on my own a lot. There’s about six of us that work for the firm and so I could be alone for weeks and then it could be all six of us, it varies.

What qualities do you think you have that make you a good painter and decorator?
Loads! Hardworking, friendly, being punctual – punctuality is an important thing. I am trustworthy. I'm good at my job. I’m tidy.

Do you think that’s important on the job?
Being tidy is, yeah. It is important, because, when the customer comes home from work the last thing they want is a messy house. If you’re leaving every night make sure your tools are in the van or kept in a place where you’ve agreed with them to keep them.

What else do you love about your job?
I like doing the actual job and then at the end I stand back and I’m like, yeah, this looks good. The satisfaction of it.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?
I’d like to have a few people working with me.

Having your own business?
Yeah, that’s it, yeah. I’d like that. Then in ten years' time, I’d like to just be going out, pricing up work, have about ten people working for me. That’s where I’d like to be.

Why painting and decorating? Why did you want to get into that?
I didn’t really have a choice. I was in carpentry, and I wasn’t very well behaved.

So what changed?
When I did the switchover to painting and decorating I realised it was me, that I enjoyed it. It’s the last trade in any job so we get the end result.

So, you think the college opened you up to opportunities that you never thought would be for you?
Yeah, that’s it, yeah.

What were your first thoughts about an apprenticeship? Did you think, yep, this is definitely for me?
Yeah, I did, because I didn’t want to be in education really. I wanted to be out working, but an apprenticeship gave me the best of both. I could learn and earn.

What advice you would give to someone new to the trade?
A decorator always carries a duster brush, that’s what I was always told.

What other bit of advice would you give them?
Be tidy, be respectful, it's someone else’s home and they’re trusting you to be in there so don’t abuse it.