Student Story: IT

Now with work experience under his belt and embarking on a university career, Billy Adams is very grateful for the IT training he received at Lewisham College….

Name:  Billy Adams
Institution:  Lewisham College
Course: BTEC First Diploma in IT

I’ve grown up around computers, as my father is an IT teacher, so it seemed a natural progression to go on to study IT at college. I found that the college environment suited my needs – it was certainly a better place for me to learn than school was.

I initially got to grips with all of the Microsoft Office applications, then became a full-time student at Lewisham College, joining the BTEC First Diploma in IT. I loved it from the outset – I found all of the help and support brilliant and I ended up getting a distinction. I then took the next step up, moving to the BTEC National Diploma in Business and IT. During the first year of this course I also took GCSE English and got a grade C, which I found amazing as I always thought my English skills would hold me back.

While on the National Diploma, I joined the College’s Career Academy, which is easily the best academic decision I have made to date. The Career Academy was brilliant and showed me what doing all the coursework was for. Through it, I got a six-week paid placement at Accenture.

I’m now at Abertay Dundee University studying Sport and Management, and in the future I hope to go into teaching because of the positive experiences I’ve had at Lewisham College. If I hadn’t gone to Lewisham College, I wouldn’t have a fraction of the qualifications and skills that I have now, and I definitely wouldn’t have gone on to university – I probably would’ve been stacking shelves somewhere.