Last updated 16:04, Friday, 25 July 2008

Frances Flanagan writes about life as a student

I AM currently doing a BTEC national certificate in Travel and Tourism. This is at Level 3 and is equivalent to two A- levels. The course is very interesting and its features include business and geography, as well as researching organisations in the industry.

Christine Baty is the tutor and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. She is friendly, approachable and makes learning the subject fun because she has had many years of experience in the sector.

In addition to this course I also do NCFEs in Cabin Crew and Holiday reps, and a CMI in Management. The NCFE courses are at Level 2 and are equivalent to four GCSEs, and once again are led by Christine. The courses give you practice as to what you would expect to do as Cabin Crew and Reps and involve a lot of role play exercises, which are great fun.

The CMI is a Level 3 course and is different to my other courses because there is a wide range of ages on the course. The course is led by Tony Proctor and other staff who all have qualifications and experience in this subject. This is the most serious course I do, but that doesn’t mean to say we don’t have fun.

To add to all this I am course representative for my BTEC course. This means any queries fellow students have, they approach me and I represent them.

As for general college life, the facilities the college has are great and very useful to me and others. The college has a library which holds thousands of books, nearly 100 computers and big comfy sofas to relax on. My friends and I regularly go there to do work or for somewhere to sit and chat on breaks. In addition it has a canteen, a shop for confectionery and a Starbucks which serves the nicest hot chocolate ever!

My favourite facility, however, is the hair and beauty salon. The prices are cheap and the quality is of a high standard, so when you leave you feel like a star.

The final aspect I would like to mention is the students. I remember on my first day thinking I would never make friends – how wrong I was.

I have made friends for life on my BTEC course and friends in general around college. Without them I don’t know what life at college would be like.

I feel going to Lakes College has been the best decision I’ve made in my life.