Health & Social Care student Tom talks to us about his course and future career aspirations
July 2021
After recently speaking with Jamie from our Health & Social Care course, this time we caught up with Tom, another one of our male Health students who attends Cannock College, for a chat about his course and future career plans.
What is your career aspiration?
“When I joined the college I was unsure what career I wanted to pursue but knew that Health and Social Care would help me to develop communication and interpersonal skills. As I studied more units and became aware of the different career opportunities in Health and Social Care I was drawn more and more to becoming a Psychologist to compliment my plans of being a Martial Arts Instructor. I like the idea of understanding individuals’ thought processes and how this can be combined with Martial Arts and be used to rehabilitate not only individuals but also the community”.
Could you describe your journey at college?
“I had previously been to a different college studying Computing and not enjoyed my time there or doing this course. I therefore decided to join South Staffordshire College, at the Cannock Campus, studying Level 2 Health and Social Care and was apprehensive at first, but did really enjoy doing work experience at a Primary School. From this work experience I developed lots of skills as I had to communicate with children of different ages and those with additional support needs. I also enjoyed doing a unit on Nutrition and learning about what a healthy diet is, how to understand nutritional information, and what nutrients are needed for in the body. I achieved my first high grade in this unit.
As I reached the end of the Level 2 course I was unsure on whether to continue onto the Level 3 course or to find a job.
I decided to enrol onto the Level 3 course and am glad that this is the choice I made. This is because I found the different units intriguing and I could really get stuck into them. These units included things such as psychology and sociology. From completing these units is what helped me to discover that I wanted to go onto university and study Psychology further”.
What Successes have you had?
“Whilst being at South Staffordshire College I have had a number of successes including:
- Maths GCSE grade 4.
- Emergency First Aid at Work.
- Level 2 Food Safety.
- Level 2 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care
- Level 3 Technical Certificate in Health and Social Care
- Level 3 Technical Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care”
What are your next steps?
“I am planning to go to Staffordshire University to study a Degree in Psychology”.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
“In the next 5 years I see myself having completed my degree in Psychology and working within the Psychology field and teaching martial arts to a large audience.
Developing my skills to eventually travel around the world teaching both Martial Arts and Psychology”.
Well done to Tom for his hard work and achievements and we wish you the best of luck at University. If you are interested in learning how you can follow in Tom’s footsteps and #CreateYourCareer in the Health & Social Care industry, please visit: https://www.southstaffs.ac.uk/careers/school-leavers/health-and-social-care/
