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Scott - Access to Science & Technology - Technical Support Engineer

"I left school with few qualifications and was not interested in school. No one from my family had been to college and my friends thought it was a waste of time. Before going to college I worked in bars, but had been unemployed for a year. I decided to do the programme to try and improve the quality of my life by getting a better job. I also wanted to get out among people again.

At first I felt a bit lost because I believed that others on the course knew much more than me, but once I settled down I began to make friends on the course and began to enjoy my studies. I did not know exactly what I wanted to do when I started but I got a lot of assistance and guidance from my tutor and found out a lot about myself.

I went to university to do a Science degree. Initially I wasn't sure whether my Access Programme would be adequate preparation for university, but soon I realised that if I worked smartly I would pass and that I was no less prepared than students from other backgrounds. In many ways I was more prepared as I was highly motivated and interested in what I was doing.

I graduated with a BSc. and decided that I wanted to travel. I found out I could gain employment in any EU country. I moved into the field of Information Technology and am now working as a Technical Support Engineer in Belgium with a leading provider of software solutions for business. I have come a long way from where I started. The SWAP Programme not only gave me academic success but confidence."