Tag: Boston City Campus

Excellent Assistance from Amanda

Posted on by Wikus Otto

We love feedback from our students , especially feedback as glowing as this! Well done #TeamBoston #BCCBellville and thank you @TiaanSmit!!

Tiaan Smit

Good day Ms. Monk,  Hope you are well.

 I would just like to take the time to recognize the efforts and time Amanda has spent with me over the past year, as my student advisor she has been here every step of the way. She has assisted me with last-minute requests, and changes of exam venues and always responds to my emails in a timely and polite manner.   I started with Boston as part of the Amazon Career Choice program and from next year will be doing my BCom Law privately she has been so helpful during the process of changing qualifications, she is assisting with applying for credits and answering all my lists of questions and trust me there was a lot.

As someone that has done various short courses through other institutions and a partial law degree with another instution, I have never received this level of support and it played a deciding factor in why I chose to stay with Boston during this time. Amanda is amazing at her work, never talks down or answers with sarcasm and I always get responses without chasing. She is truly a major asset to your company and I believe all your advisors should be of her calibre. I hope she gets a big increase and a nice xmas bonus cause she deserves it if nothing else to at least be recognized! I know students are quick to complain but when the job is done well I must recognize that too.

Amanda is everything one wants in a student advisor and more. I highly appreciate it and just wanted to say thank you to her and your institution for all the support the past year and I look forward to the journey ahead.

Have a great day further and a blessed festive season.  Kind regards,

Tiaan

Feedback on Gradstar Gala Awards Dinner

Posted on by Wikus Otto

The Gradstar Gala Awards Dinner was held at the Indaba Hotel, and it turned out to be a very swish affair! Gradstar flew all 100 finalists to Joburg and paid for their accommodation.

They were given over the period of four days, workshops, coaching and mentoring from the sponsoring employers. So what did the Boston students have to say?

Gabisile from Soweto told us that this has been a life-changing experience and she can’t wait to get back to campus and share what she has learnt

Nthabiseng from Germiston said the same,  and she is actually going to be a Gradstar ambassador going forward!

So while they were not selected for the top 10, getting into the top 100 out of 8000 was an enormous achievement!

Our two finalists were surprised and thrilled that a Boston director, senior manager and I were there to share their success – it meant a lot to them.

I could see why they got to the top 100 – very articulate, engaging and dynamic young ladies.

(We would like to acknowledge the selection in the top 100 of Jennisha from Umhlanga, even though she couldn’t come to Joburg due to a family emergency.)

Attendees heard an inspiring address by Hennie Heymans, the CEO of DHL Express, the lead sponsor of Gradstar.

Eric Albertini, COO of Future Fit Academy, head of the judging panel, explained the criteria they used throughout this whole process of assessment, to select future leaders who can ‘disrupt’, and not only survive but thrive in the ever-changing world and workplace – it’s mostly about ‘being’ (this will sound familiar to some of you!)

The audience enjoyed entertainment by Simmy, then all 100 finalists were called up and given a certificate before the top 10 were announced.

And then we left – but the youngsters partied on! Although Gabisile told us they had a workshop starting at 07:00 the next day ….

Gradstar Nthabiseng Hlabahlaba

Posted on by Wikus Otto

“What an honour and privilege it is to be selected as part of the 2022 DHL GradStar Top 100 Awards! I am truly humbled to be recognised as one of the most employable students out of thousands of applicants across South Africa. I believe that this speaks volumes to the incredible foundation that has been laid by Boston City Campus in preparing me for the world of work. This recognition from GradStar upholds the notion that hard work and determination truly do pay off.

 

My passion for leadership and being a change agent for South Africa and the world at large has been further ignited by my GradStar journey. Not only have I realised my capabilities, but I have been provided with the opportunity to enhance my skills while building networks that could catapult my career to new heights. The idea of connecting top students with top employers, giving individuals an opportunity to be headhunted, is one that truly excites me. I look forward to the life-changing opportunities that will be brought about by being a GradStar Top 100!

 

I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my campus and the entire Boston City Campus team who have played a vital role in my academic journey. Your guidance and continuous support are appreciated and have truly kept me going.

 

To my fellow students, I greatly encourage you to continue the pursuit of education as it is through study and hard work that one can realise and reach their full potential. Bear in mind that what matters most is how you actually utilise the education and knowledge that you receive and gain over the years. I further urge you to adopt the idea of showing up. Show up in your education and show up for yourself. Someone is always watching, so always strive to put your best foot forward in all that you do. The journey of life may not always be easy, on some days you might even be on the brink of giving up, but keep going and always remember why you started. Your hard work may not necessarily yield results immediately, but remember that nothing worth having ever comes easy. The world is your oyster!” – Nthabiseng Hlabahlaba

 

Graduate Interview with Thabang Khatide

Posted on by Wikus Otto

Graduate Interview with Thabang Khatide

At Boston we are immensely proud of our students and graduates that go out there and DO. You know the Nike payoff line? Just do it? Well, we believe in that payoff line from the point of view that you cannot just sit back and wait for work or relationship or life success to fall in your lap. You have to make things happen! And Mr Thabang Kevin Khatide is one of our grads who is in the process of making things happen!

So what drove Thabang to try our his hand in this career with a difference? “After finishing high school at Pretoria Boys High, I knew I wanted to take a very different trajectory than most. I didn’t see myself going straight into the University, I decided to launch myself into the deep end in the world of entrepreneurship and business. I went on to attend many seminars and embarked on a personal development journey, and soon enough, acquired a key mentor who’s guided me into starting my own business after much ideation.” Thabang continues explaining why he added in some tertiary studies: “For the sake of appeasement of my mom! I decided to complete a short course at Boston City Campus, Lynnwood. The course was in The Principles of Management which had a plethora of ideal entrepreneurial elements.”
Thabang Khatide

Designation: Mr South Africa Top 30 Semi-Finalist / Entrepreneur / Professional Model

Above and beyond that, he stays in studies and “I occasionally take short online courses as well”. “I have a number of things going on in my life varying from my personal career to managing my business and company Velatswi which is a one of a kind city scooter touring company. I thoroughly enjoy spending my days knowing that I am working on a business that can transform many lives in the long run, and simultaneously the process and journey has allowed me to be stretched and challenged as an individual in various ways.” We all know that entrepreneurial ventures are difficult, what is the most difficult aspect for Thabang? “I least enjoy rejection but work through and around it nonetheless.“
Thabang explains what he does during an average day: “On my end the day would start off with an intense gym session followed by a shower and nutritional breakfast. After all that, it’s back to chipping off the daily tasks set out for the week from the Sunday prior to the week start.”

We asked Thabang if someone was thinking of following in his tracks, what would he recommend? He responded that they would need three important qualities:

  • Efficient time management
  • Resilience
  • Grounded character
And how would he describe an entrepreneurial job such as his? “Doing what I do requires someone who’s not only committed to their hustle but has the necessary discipline to fulfil all necessary duties and responsibilities across the board”. He does also believe in training and says, “Training and experience go hand in hand. You’ll need the training to excel when an opportunity opens up to gain the necessary experience.” While Thabang believes in training as discussed above, he also feels that personal development should be a priority. “Personally, I believe we live in a high opportunity world. A world where paper is no longer the prerequisite to get “paper”. I believe each person needs to qualify themselves in whatever they are passionate about and go about it the best way they deem fit to excel in said field. A starting point most ignore is most certainly personal development and really learning how to come into yourself and honing in on who you want to be in a few years’ time”. He has faced challenges such as starting and running a business in the height of the National Lockdown.
To grade 11’s and 12’s. he advises: “Know what you want and start paving the way on how you will get there, because nowadays we have many parents coaxing their children into career paths and degrees the kids are either not interested in or passionate about. The world has changed. There is a way for everyone to make it without always reverting to the traditional means. On tertiary studies he doesn’t adhere to the formal and strict discipline of all school leavers getting a degree, but he adds, “In due time I will probably enroll in some more short courses to add to my skillset and knowledge base. I’m always interested in attaining key information that I can immediately put to use vs it being assessed, marked, and only after some years have passed will I now fully be able to apply it all.” Would he continue his studies t Boston? “My first experience of Boston in an official setting was with the new Lynnwood branch in Pretoria and it had been nothing short of great. The staff was always on par with their friendly and inviting energy and mainly their helpfulness with their students”.

Youth Unemployment Stats

Posted on by Wikus Otto

South Africa’s youth bear the burden of the country’s unemployment burden

While the unemployment rate rose an unexpected 0,6%, South Africa is still facing a mass unemployment crisis, with 44.1% of the labour force without work in the second quarter.  This is testament to the fact the country’s jobless rate is highest of 82 nations monitored by Bloomberg.

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey released on Tuesday shows 8 million jobless people still searching for jobs, an increase from 7.9 million in Q1.  Additionally, there are 3.6 million discouraged workers and 700 000 South African’s who have stopped their job search for other reasons.

Ari Katz of Boston City Campus and Boston Media House

Stats for SA youth

“The recently released stats highlight the fact that South Africa’s youth are bearing the brunt of the unemployment burden,” says Ari Katz, CEO Boston City Campus. 

Youth aged 15-24 and 25 -34 recorded the highest unemployment rates of 61,4% and 41,2% respectively.  Approximately 3,7M (35,7%) out of 10,2 M young people aged 15-24 years were not in employment education or training (NEET). This means that more than 1 out 0f 3 young South Africans between these ages were disengaged with the labour market, precluding them from gaining experience or further skills and perpetuating intergenerational poverty.

The NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) rate, seen in conjunction with high youth unemployment rate of over 60%, suggests that the youth face extreme difficulties engaging with the labour market in South Africa.

 

“Companies and institutions need to actively participate in providing and sourcing gainful employment for these youth” says Katz. “We need to be as proactive and as active as possible. We at Boston have an entire department dedicated to coaching, mentoring and assisting students who are in the job-seek space. Students and graduates have a gap in exposure to workplace behaviours and they need extra input in order to secure great jobs!”

Jobs in demand

CareerJunction reported that year-on-year, hiring activity has increased by 23% between June 2021 and June 2022.  However, we need to be cognisant of which skills are in demand when we choose a qualifcation.  

Vacancies over 2022, show these sectors as the most highly sought after:  Finance Sales IT Business & Management Manufacturing & Assembly Admin, Office & Support Building & Construction,.

 

According to Stats SA, Graduates faired better in the workplace environment with the graduate unemployment rate at 10.2%,

 

Graduates need a holistic set of skills – both in terms of their field of expertise, technical know-how to participate in an increasingly digitised work environment and also so called soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving, self-discipline and time management.

 

Recent data from Boston Consulting Group  reports that “there is more than 50% of a skills mismatch between the current South African workforce and the demands of the work environment.” This means that we need to be careful when choosing a qualification, but also that we need to adopt a mindset of lifelong learning and upskill even if we are in a job, to remain relevant.   

 

“Skills mismatch (where graduates don’t have the skills to meet the demand, or find themselves in a job where they can’t perform because they have inappropriate skills)  is a key contributing factor to the jobless crisis,” says Katz.  “It is essential for tertiary institutions to have direct communication and interaction with the workplace, so as to create an efficient ecosystem that supplies matching skills to quality jobs in order to build our economy and stimulate graduate entry into the workplace.”

 

This requires a reciprocal interaction by education and private business – where corporations manage training programming and upskilling their employers so that education is informed.

 

“Additionally, government need to take the necessary steps to improve the responsiveness of education and training and academic institutions to develop the necessary qualifications to facilitate skills delivery and meet the evolving needs of the business environment,” says Katz.

The top in demand jobs in South Africa

Posted on by Kim Geere

The Top in Demand jobs in South Africa

Covid-19 has accelerated the digitization of 4IR, bringing with it an increased demand for tech related jobs and the emergence of new jobs resulting from pandemic induced changes in our lives and the workplace.  This has resulted in a double disruption scenario for workers who have to deal with the combined impact of these new demands.

 LinkedIn Weighs in on Most in-demand jobs

According to LinkedIn, tech roles continue to be in high demand to meet the workplace digital transformation catalysed by the health crisis. This has seen a rise in demand for web development and engineering roles related as businesses develop further infrastructure to accommodate remote working, while meeting the increased demand of online shopping.

With vaccine distribution, LinkedIn data has seen a significant spike in the need for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses

The roles with the most LinkedIn job posts (February 2021) are software engineers, followed by registered nurses, salespeople, project managers, food delivery drivers, full stack engineers, animal groomers, javascript developers, devOps engineers and account managers. While these jobs provide insight into the impact of the pandemic on the workforce, the demand for these jobs are set to continue in the post-pandemic environment too.

Most in-demand jobs in SA

Locally, according to the latest CareerJunction Index, South Africa mirrors the LinkedIn job trends.  This has seen a similar uptake in the demand for medical and health professionals, sales, marketing, architecture and engineering over the first few months of this year.

Significant online demand indicates positive employment trends. The IT, business & management and finance sectors are undoubtedly the most sought-after sectors, followed by the sales, admin, office & support and architecture & engineering sectors, among others listed.

Tertiary institution work recruitment programmes

McKinsey reports that consumers have moved dramatically toward online channels, and companies and industries have responded in turn with a rapid shift toward interacting with customers through digital channels.   This is translating into a demand for skills including tech, IT, web development graphic design, cyber security and more.

Despite the slowdown in demand and the record unemployment, there are certain industries which are showing an uptick in demand, with graduates benefitting as a result.

The Work-integrated Learning (WIL) Programme at Boston Media House is part of the work recruitment programme.  WIL is a practical experiential learning programme, where final year students complete 80 working hours as part of their qualification.  In turn this prepares graduates for the workplace.

The work recruitment programme has seen demand growing for final years and graduates for paid internships, providing insight into the current jobs in demand. The main areas are (overwhelmingly) in television, then digital/social media marketing, followed by advertising, and graphic design.   In animation, the demand outweighs supply of available skills.

The demand has 7 companies this year wanting Boston final year students for paid WIL internships, some wanting as many as 10 and 25 students from different courses.

Future of work

Digital adoption has taken a quantum leap of up to 5 years, transforming the jobs which are in demand.

While the automation of the 4IR is set to create a global job loss of as many as 85 million jobs, this will be counteracted by the creation of 97 million new jobs, according to the World Economic Forum.

CareerJunction has seen a lower demand in jobs than 12 months ago indicating the impact of COVID19 related restrictions on the local labour market.  According to Stats SA, the latest unemployment number for the fourth quarter of 2020 show that the unemployment rate has reached  32.5% – the highest since the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008.

However, the adoption and growth of the digital environment means that new roles are developing throughout the world, which in turn means investing in both our students and employees to prevent their redundancy as a result of digital migration of businesses.

As institutions responsible for supplying talent to meet the demands of the workplace, tertiary recruitment programmes can play a significant role in transforming the employment crisis by bridging digital gaps, boosting the economy and helping to facilitate employment opportunities to reduce the escalation of South Africa’s current unemployment dilemma.

Carike Verbooy

Helping more students to reach the finish line – Caster Semenya Foundation and Boston City Campus.

Posted on by Anrolette Hollamby

Announcement of partnership between the Caster Semenya Foundation and Boston City Campus.

Being a Higher Education Institution, Boston City Campus has a vision that includes improving the working lives of both those that are employed or not employed through a Higher Education offering appropriate for the person, the skills level and the intended career path. We have found that it is very difficult to encourage successful sport people to further their education, as at the time of success life seems to come very easily, money flows in, and they enjoy the fruits of their physical efforts. However, life has some bumps, unplanned for events, family circumstances – there is a range we have all felt the chaos brought by unplanned events in 2020.  It is for these reasons that Boston was thrilled to be approached by the Caster Semenya Foundation to be the education partner to the foundation. The Caster Semenya Foundation was established in 2016 with the aim of raising awareness, funds for selected campaigns, and making contributions to communities on a national level.  Having attained higher education herself, Caster Semenya has used her foundation to reach out and aid more learners to achieve their academic goals. “Being a successful sportsperson, people may think that one wouldn’t need Higher Education, but I know how important it is to be involved in your own finances, be able to question, be able to plan for your future, and be able to create different futures should the need arise. 2020 has shown us how important it is to be able to take advantage of new job opportunities, to be able to contribute to your own business or a corporate where you are employed, and to gain new skills in order to remain relevant. Our futures are uncertain, Higher Education gives us a step up the ladder for us to remain relevant in chaotic times” she says.

The foundation therefore set out to find an education partner, so that we could provide sponsorships in quality and accredited Higher Education to awardees that the Caster will select. Boston City Campus fit the criteria for this sponsorship for a number of reasons -they have a passion for education, they care about each individual student and the student’s success in a career and workplace, they have a national footprint that allows learners to remain home, save on residential costs, and continue to contribute to the home while studying. They moved seamlessly into a fully online institution when faced with a lockdown, and their learners continued the year with studies and assessments uninterrupted. Boston is so committed to their graduates that they have established a programme that is unique in the higher education fields, called Graduate+.  This programme hand holds students after graduation providing aspect of employment not usually provided to students. It includes….   They are both locally accredited and globally recognised, which has also become an important factor in gaining qualifications and being able to compete on a global playing field.  The Caster Semenya Foundation is proud to announce an education partnership with Boston City Campus. This will run over a multi-year period, with multiple bursaries awarded over this time, in the higher education arena.

We will monitor and coach the awardees as they progress through their education journey, and look forward to seeing these students graduate and continue to succeed.

With good training you can go from zero to hero in business

Posted on by Anrolette Hollamby

With good training, you can go from zero to hero in business

Do you want to run your own small business, but don’t quite know where to start?

Take the idea of your product or service, combine it with some learning and you can soon be turning your business ideas into profit, says Natalie Rabson of Boston City Campus.

“Starting and running a small business is regarded as one of the best solutions to the high unemployment figures worldwide,” she comments. “While this is a great idea but it must be combined with good training and skills, as well as guidance to be able to succeed in the small business arena. Fortunately, you can easily enroll for a course in small business, as you would in any other field of work.”

Natalie recommends three specific courses in the Boston stable of commerce qualifications to get going in a successful business.

“The first one that comes to mind is the Boston short learning program for the Small Business Owner,” she says. “It can be completed within 6-9  months and gives you the basic skills you need to start running your own business or run a business on behalf of someone else. In total it contains nine different modules that lead to 48 Higher Education credits on National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 5 and 14 credits on NQF Level 6.”

The programme includes interesting topics useful skills such as Windows; word processing; spreadsheets; business management techniques; principles of entrepreneurship; integrated marketing communication; and introduction to business accounting, which covers the basic principles and procedures of accounting.

Once you complete the course, you will be able to apply the principles of general management as well as human resource management to real business situations. The course also develops your entrepreneurial and project management skills.

Boston Students learning the skills of chocolate making at The Chocolate Den, (before Lockdown!)
Boston Students learning the skills of chocolate making at The Chocolate Den, (before Lockdown!)

“The whole focus of the small business owner short learning program is to give you the necessary skills that you can put into practice from day one as a small business owner,” says Natalie. “Identifying a great business opportunity or coming up with an innovative new product is only the beginning. To go from zero to hero in business, you need real business know-how and tenacity as we have seen in the case of our great businessmen like the late Sol Kerzner in hospitality, Richard Maponya in diversified business and Mark Shuttleworth in IT”. Kerzner didn’t invent hotels; they existed for ages before he appeared on the scene. But through hard work, business ingenuity, and creativity he took hotels and hospitality to another level.  With business acumen and practical skills, start-up businesses and part-time ways to earn money can be developed into sustainable businesses. The Chocolate Den situated in Edenvale is a small business that has slowly grown in various aspects such as service and online availability. During the Corona lockdown they have offered free online training in various skills that can be used to start your OWN small business! And the ‘tools’ required can be ordered online. Excellent adaptability to not only grow their own business, but assist others to create their own small home business that can be run from home. All you need are your small business owner skills.

The other qualifications that Natalie recommends for aspirant business-owners are the Higher Certificate in Business Management Practice and the Diploma in Business Management.

The Higher Certificate in Business Management is a Boston higher education program that can be completed in one year. It covers modules that include computer literacy, business management, entrepreneurship, socioeconomics, basic accounting, industrial psychology, company law, and business communication.

The Diploma in Business Management is a three-year course on NQF level 6. It covers similar modules as the other business qualifications mentioned but goes into greater depth and has additional modules such as brand management, applied research, applied psychology, and project management.

For more information and assistance in selecting the qualification that is best suited to your career dreams, go to www.boston.ac.za, or call 011-551 2000.

Looking for a New Career? Here Are The 3 Most Promising Careers of 2020

Posted on by Anrolette Hollamby

The fastest-growing careers to watch in 2020

Natalie Rabson on Behalf of Boston City Campus.

We seem to be surrounded by a heavy situation and confusing times for all South African’s. We need to remain positive and upbeat –and we have some practical ways for you.  What are the downsides of what we are experiencing? Chaos, panic and stockpiling, loss of work and loss of studies. So how do we turn this around? Consider what will be in use 24 hours a day, despite ports being closed, ban on travel and closed schools. The internet! Tech! This is where we will not only spend our time, but we can create our futures. The temptation will be to spend all the time on Netflix, but imagine if you set some aside to gain new skills? Our present and our future are all about what happens on our laptops – so make yourself valuable and learn or upgrade your career.

Due to the flexible nature of online learning, Boston has always used technology to maximize benefits to learners. These include greater knowledge retention as well as learning in your own time and your own space, and lastly of course, at your own pace. Now is the best time to take advantage of this with new 4th IR careers such as cybersecurity, data science, and project management.

Computer and mathematical occupations are growing at a rate of approximately 22% and they have one of the highest average salaries.

Thanks to expanding mobile networks, and a growing energy sector, IT professionals have an extremely favorable outlook. As big data increasingly drives commerce, the skills needed to control our vast networks of information are more valuable than ever. The demand for data scientists continues to grow.

Data Science has emerged as one of the most popular fields of the 21st Century. Companies employ Data Scientists to help them gain insights about the market and to better their products. Data Scientists work as decision-makers and are largely responsible for analysing and handling a large amount of unstructured and structured data. In order to do so, he requires various tools and programming languages for Data Science to mend the day in the way he wants.

Cybersecurity secures your future as you need to always be one step ahead of where the next breach will be. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes.

Graphic designers’ job functions often require greater insights into the information that is presented in order to reproduce it in a visual way that the client and audience will understand. They look to improve the way information is represented, whether it be company projections or marketing a cooldrink..

Project Management as defined by the Association of Project Management as “the application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters. Project management has final deliverables that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.”  Both Project and product managers work across disciplines, taking the output of team members and integrating it into the bigger picture. One of the most notable characteristics of opportunities for project managers is their truly global nature.

If one of these fields speaks to you, there’s plenty of time to get prepped and make the switch, and use the time you have now to develop so that when we emerge from this recession you will be in the top position to offer employers up to date skills or to open your own consultancy because you will be in such high demand!  It’s never too early to get started enjoying the sense of well-being derived from promising and fulfilling work. Prepare to thrive!

Visit www.boston.ac.za, or call 011 551 2000.

Reaching Out, Student Perspectives Bedfordview Shannon

Posted on by Anrolette Hollamby

Shannon Nevay, current student in Lockdown, advises on the benefits of Education, keeping up with your studies, and planning for an uncertain future:

“I am a student currently in my 3rd year of studying a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing Management via correspondence with Boston College. I have been studying via correspondence for the full length of my studies so far and it has been such a truly great experience.

As I write this, it is day 20 of the nation-wide lockdown and although many things have changed such as our ability to move around, restrictions on who we can and cannot see and trying times ahead economically, the one thing that has been a stable constant for me has been my studies. The transition into the lockdown was seamless as I have been able to continue my studies just as I was doing so before, working through course material, completing my assignments and uploading them online and being able to study for the upcoming exams. The amazing team at my Boston Bedfordview support centre have also made this change much easier as we get updates and support from all the staff. Whether this is through continued communication through WhatsApp or personal phone calls about important updates, or through the use of the online student wellness module that includes supportive and motivational articles about how each student can personally deal with this situation. Boston truly puts immense effort into taking care of their students and continuing excellence in the learning experience through trying times.

As a correspondence student myself, I believe that especially during this time, people have now gotten a much better insight into how important it can be to have the correct foundations for online learning. Boston has had this online support fully operational to support their correspondence students for years and because of that, they have been quick to transition their other students to this system so that we may all benefit from an uninterrupted learning experience during the lockdown.

In the coming months, I’m sure there will be a lot of uncertainty among people about what happens next. As someone who has been personally affected and has been left unemployed due to this pandemic, one thing I can be sure of is that continuing my studies with Boston can only improve my situation and help me as I head towards this seemingly uncertain future with hope for what is to come. I have also had more time to reflect on what I want to do in the future and am considering registering for another course with Boston after I have completed this degree. I think that now is the perfect time to register for a course for anyone who has been thinking about pursuing new career opportunities or wants to support their current career with a recognised higher certificate, diploma or degree in their field.

I know that my academic year is secure and that none of my hard work will go to waste because of all of the systems Boston is using to support their students during the lockdown, which have been working for correspondence students for years and can also support other full-time students.

I cannot express enough how helpful and professional my Boston support team has been throughout the duration of my studies, let alone during this pandemic”.

This mature attitude of Shannon’s towards her own personal circumstances and the wider environment that we all share has inspired other students and staff alike. It is a reminder our future is often uncertain, and we need to plan for unforeseen events by having goals and ambition. This virus has also been a stark reminder for all of us of the importance of developing 4th industrial revolution skills such as IT as well as flexibility and adaptability.