Community Links Programme - creating opportunity for all

The first day in college is a happy memory permanently embedded in my mind. It is a day I will never forget. I am the first person in my family to go to college. A dream comes true, all the sleepless nights and hard work in school have at last paid off.

College, a new and fresh part of my life was about to start. I was so excited. I felt that I have accomplished something. New people, new friends, lectures and a totally new environment awaited me. The first semester flew by so fast and this made me realise that I was responsible, I was an adult. No one would question you if you showed up for lectures or if your assignments were up to date. It was up to me. My efforts did count and I did my utmost best to hold up my end of the bargain.

Even though the semester went by so fast, I had to face up to a range of challenges from financial difficulties to finding a good balance between college life and my private life. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy to set priorities because I had to work twice a week in the evening and look after myself as my family isn’t around. I had to grow up very fast. Sometimes I came home so exhausted I did not even think about tomorrow. But my mother once told me if it doesn’t kill you, it only makes you stronger. I settled in to my new reality. I don’t think I would be in college to even finish the first year if it wasn’t for the support from my friends, my Access project officer and the Access programme itself. Life totally changed with their help and now I can concentrate better in my studies. I know that I am on the right track as my results for the first semester were good. I now feel that semester two has been fairly easy as I put more effort into my studies. I had to push myself.

I also recently joined the gym and found a good equilibrium between my studies and personal life. Now I look back at the whole year and feel that I have achieved my goal and I know that I should take this experience step by step and it will eventually pay off. My dream is now a reality, I just can’t believe it.

But, I have to stress that without all the support and guidance from my Access Project officer and the Access Programme as a whole, I wouldn’t be here sharing my experiences with all of you. Thanks to them, I am pursuing a long standing ambition of mine and I am so thankful for all the people who have offered me this golden opportunity and a helping hand when I truly needed it’.