Carol was the first female student to achieve Microsoft Office Master status and gained a place in the top 25 in England and Wales to reach the finals of the 2005 Microsoft Office Specialist Competition. Carol had a work placement opportunity with the Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service which has now turned into employment.
Gaining self-esteem, boosting confidence and achieving a few qualifications were the main goals that I wished to achieve by attending Portland College.
Little did I know just how much confidence, self-esteem and knowledge I would gain in my year at Portland College, in the Karten CTEC Centre. I have gained qualifications in all of the Microsoft packages, computerised accounts, text processing and numeracy. My confidence was boosted by having to interact between the students, tutors and management during the time spent in the General Office and on the main and employment reception areas. All the tutors in Admin and Customer Services have pushed the boundaries and goal posts to stretch my abilities and have had faith in me throughout the year to achieve these goals. Thanks to the staff here I now feel that I have the ability to take on new challenges in new areas whereas before I would tend to take a back seat.
When starting at the college you are told that your course is unique and that everything is arranged to suit you. Well I can certainly say that this is true. My time at Portland has seen so much laughter and happiness and that is thanks to the friends, staff and students that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working alongside during my learning journey.