Joining a new College

Having spent four years at an independent school in York, it was time for me to decide which career path to take. I had the choices of joining a college or trying to find a job, I didn’t want to just give up on A Levels and my aim was to attend the University of my Choice and I knew that it would be wiser for me to join college and get some A Levels.

After choosing which path to take I was then confronted with even more choices, join a college in my area or venture out to a college outside Bedfordshire. At 19 I was older than the majority of the students starting A Levels, so most of the local college’s stated I was too old so I took a big risk and decided to venture out and join North Herts College in Hitchin and Stevenage.

Coming from an Independent school I was used to strict routines, having a set schedule every single day as their outlook on education and life was to be the best you can with the abilities that you have. Constantly having support 24 hours a day is a benefit but then does not always ensure independence. I knew that leaving an Independent school and joining a college that is regulated by the normal educational authorities would be a challenge for me.

September arrived before I knew it, and my first day at North Herts College had arrived. I had a lot of worries especially because I knew that I would not be with my own age group so didn’t know how that would effect my social life. I had a few days in which to enrol and I was told that everything would be fine and that there was support there for both educational issues and personal issues if needed them. I was also shown around the campus by students so I spoke to them about it and they were friendly and gave me a few tips.

My first day was very successful, the teachers were very kind and were aware that there was a lot of new people who were nervous and not sure what to expect; as far as the other students were concerned everybody was feeling the same and it took us a while to settle down, but now looking back four months on I don’t know why I was so worried. The facilities were another issue on my mind, I was used to having everything you could think of and knowing that local colleges were issued with budgets I was not sure how this would affect me. Well, the facilities I have access to is unbelievable, a wide range of computers so I’m always able to print out the work I need. As far as my A’ Level Photography is concerned both digital and film cameras are provided with access to print my photographs in a dark room. I was so surprised with the amount of facilities we had considering it was all for free.

Three months in I had decided to change my career path slightly and was not sure how to go about this, so when speaking to North Herts College about it they told me what my options were and how to go about it; they were so helpful and made it easy for me to change my career choice.

Thanks to North Herts College I will be able to achieve my goals and attend my choice of university and I would recommend this college to anyone wanting to further their education regardless of their age.