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Adult hairdressing student proof you can live the dream
A part time hairdressing course for adults changed the life and career of one former South Essex College student.
Vivienne Fetterplace, 47, from Orsett studied Level 2 Hairdressing at the college’s Grays town centre campus in the evenings while continuing her job in a primary school.
She now has a whole new career as a successful hairdresser with her own in-home salon business, Vivienne Fetterplace Hair, and a very long loyal client list.
Vivienne said: “I’ve wanted to be a hairdresser all my life. Prior to starting the course, I set up my own business alongside my full time job at a primary school, doing updos for weddings and proms.
“Once qualified, I had built up a great relationship with so many clients that I had enough to leave my old job and work full time in my salon from home and follow my lifelong dream.
“I now have 120 clients with at least 10 new enquiries every week, I have had to close my books for a while because I cannot fit anyone else in during the working week. I’m living my dream daily.”
Vivienne would absolutely recommend the college’s hairdressing courses to any adults thinking of changing career. She added: “I waited 40 odd years to follow this dream career path, not a day goes by that I regret my decision.
“The course covers in-depth theory which helped tremendously when preparing for the practical lessons
“My group of classmates clicked from day one and helped each other out, offering lots of support – we all cried on our last day of lessons because we were so sad to say good bye to each other.”
Follow Vivienne Fetterplace hair on Instagram @v_f_hair
The college offers a variety of part time evening courses in hairdressing and beauty therapies at its Southend and Thurrock campuses. For more information, visit https://www.southessex.ac.uk/course/hairdressing-adults-level-2-certificate-1 and https://www.southessex.ac.uk/course/beauty-therapy-level-2-diploma-1
Success stories
Learning is ageless and I’ve really enjoyed being a student again and pushing myself to reach my potential
Mark Ganyu, from Stanford-le-Hope, studied HNC General Engineering at University Centre South Essex.
He was nominated for being a motivated, punctual, well-mannered, hardworking individual and for consistently maintaining his high standard performance since in his level 3 part-time engineering course four years ago.
His tutor said: “Mark’s work and performance have been exemplary and has exceeded expectations in the last four years whilst tending to family commitments, changing jobs and overcoming a language barrier. He has been an asset to this programme and we wish him all the success.”
Mark would recommend University Centre South Essex as a mature student as it helped him in many scenarios and was very flexible and supportive.
Mark commented on his nomination and said: “It was a complete surprise to be winning an award and makes me feel good. Learning is ageless and I’ve really enjoyed being a student again and pushing myself to reach my potential.”
“It’s a kind gesture from the awarding bodies and tutors to recognise my efforts and would like to thank them all for their dedication during my time at the university centre.”
Mark has aspirations of studying for a higher education degree course but may take his knowledge and skills to his current company, where he can continue accepting new challenges and opportunities.
I would highly recommended the university centre for its variety of different courses, professional and expert tutors, it is extremely well organised and student orientated.”
Aniku has carried off the HNC/HND Student of the Year award because of his excellent attitude towards learning.
He said: “It is an absolute honour to win this award and I'm humbled that my mentors/teachers think of me so highly.”
Aniku said he chose to study at University Centre South Essex because it is one of the only higher education institutions that offer the course he wanted study - electro-mechanical engineering. Being employed as a multi-disciplined engineer, this was the perfect course for him.
His tutor commented: “Aniku is motivated, punctual, well-mannered, committed, hardworking, and an excellent collaborator. He is very thorough in implementing given feedback and is improving his work consistently.
“Aniku’s distance travelled in such a brief time since he joined L4 HNC programme in September 2021 is remarkable. He has flourished from a quiet student to an accomplished confident team member not hesitating to offer his assistance to his peers and tutors. He is an asset to his programme of study.
Aniku added: “It is an extremely well organised course. Considering my course is part-time it can get intense. Having a course that’s organised so well just makes everything, especially the learning part, easier to digest.
“I like that the different aspects of engineering are covered well and taught in a professional and easily digestible manner.
“My greatest achievement so far has been gaining promotion from maintenance technician to regional reliability engineer. I would highly recommended the university centre for its variety of different courses, professional and expert tutors, it is extremely well organised and student orientated.”
Aniku said that he would really like to continue his education and get a degree in Electromechanical Engineering. His future ambition is to take up a Chartered Engineering role or become a senior consultant.
Celebrating Success 2022: Andy Amoako
Course studied
The environment is quite serene and calming. The college gives the opportunity to fully explore your academic visions.
Building Services Student of the Year, Andy Amoako, was nominated for his enthusiasm to learn and progress while pursuing his aspiration of becoming an electrical engineer.
The 20-year-old from Grays studied Electrical Instillation at the college’s Thurrock Campus and is described by his tutors as a ‘model student’.
His tutor added: “It is truly a pleasure to have Andy in my class, he is a credit both to himself and the college.’
Andy said it was amazing to win the award.
He said: “It felt so good to receive an academic recognition, I have never been really recognized for anything like this, so it felt so great to be seen like that!
“I chose to study at the college because among all the available choices, South Essex College stood out more. The environment is quite serene and calming. The college gives the opportunity to fully explore your academic visions.
Andy is now looking to progress onto university to further his skills. As for the future he said: “I want to reach a height so high, I can't see the ground.”
