Burning the midnight oil: Record-breaking Alissa wins award
Alissa Boulton, a student with Warwickshire County Council’s adult learning programme, has worked through the night to set a new record and become Nuneaton and Bedworth’s adult learner of the year.
Alissa started a CLAIT Diploma at Bedworth Heath Leisure and Activity Centre last September which was a five module course covering word processing, file management, spreadsheets and graphs, databases and E-publication.
However, Alissa came to realize that she would be moving house toward the latter part of the course. Realising that this would mean spending some time offline, Alissa had a choice to make; either postpone some of the modules until she was ready to take up her studies once her new house was online and ready or start to burn the midnight oil and study through the night.
Many nights saw Alissa working until 2am as she worked at her course. Spurred on by her own advice to her own children, Alissa knew that she couldn’t give up. She worked away completing module after module until all five were completed after eight weeks, a new county record for the course.
Now, with the learning bug firmly taking hold, Alissa is looking at taking a more advanced course in computing, the ECDL (European Computer Driving License). Having made several friends at the course, she also enjoys the social life it gives her.
Alissa said: “It has done wonders for my confidence because I set myself a challenge and I have conquered it. I’m amazed that I have the record for the quickest course.”
Course tutor Dianne Sandom said: “Alissa has amazed herself but not us. We knew what she was capable of. I have to say, though, that I was surprised she completed the course so quickly whilst moving house. It is a tremendous achievement to have done that and Alissa is a worthy winner of the award.”
If you would like to see what Adult & Community Learning could do for you, call 02476 353065 for further details of courses in Nuneaton and Bedworth.