FORMER Wiltshire College & University Centre student Harvey Mitchell returned to the campus that launched his learning journey to inspire another generation of IT learners.
Harvey, from Trowbridge, studied medical sciences and human genomics at Exeter University and is set to embark on a job designing proteins but, as he told T Level Digital Support students, he might not have had the chance without the support of the college.
The 25-year-old, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s and ADHD, dropped out of secondary school at 14 and was struggling to find the right place to learn when he came to the college.
Lecturer Geoff Wiffen and learning mentor Catherine Jelves worked with him to pass his GCSEs and several Level 1 and 2 IT courses before helping him get on to an Access to HE course to garner enough UCAS points to make it to university.
“Three times a week for three months, I met Catherine regularly in the library to go through the biology syllabus and that got me through the exam,” he said. “The support infrastructure at the college and the flexibility I had here was fundamental for me, and if I didn’t have the college, I wouldn’t have gone to uni and I don’t know what I would have done.”
Advice for the next generation
He told the students, as they came to the end of their first year, that the key to developing their skills and experience – and finding out what career path they want to follow – is to look for ways of expanding their knowledge. “Expose yourself to different things because that’s how you expand your skillsets,” he said.
“Be exposed to different people, do different projects, get different experiences, and it just kind of gives you a leg up. It doesn’t matter where you go, the point is that you are willing to try new stuff.”
He said in an age where direct communication is becoming rare, the ability to pick up the phone or send an email to a company that interests you to ask for work experience or just a chat could make all the difference.
“One of two things could happen, they’ll either ignore you, so nothing has changed and that’s not on you, or they are busy so still nothing has changed,” he said.
“Or they could answer and you have a conversation and then suddenly that can really shift things.”
He spoke about the IT jobs he had taken and the scientific projects, paid and unpaid, he had enlisted for while at university to broaden his skills and contacts. He has also set up South West Biotech, a forum for students and professionals working in life sciences to share knowledge and meet up.
“You’ve got to wake up in the morning, be positive,” he told the students. “You have to ask yourself ‘how am I going to do this, how am I going to make it happen, how can I do my best?’. Everyone in my generation will have a degree, it’s what have you done on top of the degree that will be the differentiator.”
Geoff and Catherine said they were grateful to Harvey for giving up his time. “It’s such an inspiring story because he has been so determined throughout his time at the college and at university,” said Geoff. “It is great to see him setting out on this path and doing so well.”
Catherine, who is now an Emotional Literary Support Assistant, said she had been pleased to be a part of the support the college was able to offer. “I started in the February and Harvey had his biology exam at the end of May and we literally covered the whole biology syllabus in three months,” she recalled.
“I was pleased to help him because he was so bright and so keen, he just needed the right opportunities.”
Harvey said: “I always knew what I wanted to do but I was a ball of energy and I needed focus. The college was very patient and the mentors I had here really helped by giving me an infrastructure where I could learn and explore things. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere without that.”
Start your own journey
Whether you know exactly where you’re heading or you’re still exploring your options, our Open Events are the perfect way to discover our courses, meet our supportive staff and see how we can help you achieve your ambitions.
