The Story of Amy a Beautiful Prospect

This is the story of Amy (our common student name for this year - and purely ficitious in this instance) ,aged 29 who lives in Milton.


Amy is a married mother of 3 girls, her youngest child is about to start primary school, Amy's husband is self-employed and works 80 hours a week at least running their farm.

Amy's husband is not that keen on her studying in Dunedin, he would like her to be closer to home.


Amy helps on the farm where she can, she is also involved in the local playcentre, and is on the PTA for the local school.


Amy has a number of hobbies including cross stitch, riding her horse and scrap-booking - whilst also performing the normal daily routines of being a mother and partner.


Amy did not complete high school and has no formal qualifications - she has worked in a cafe as a waitress and worked in the local dairy when she left school, Amy can't type very well, has mild dyslexia and has no computer access at home


Amy also suffers from depression on occasion - this can usually be managed with medication - but when she is stressed and feeling pressured the depression can become an issue for her.



There are an enormous number of considerations for Amy - amongst them are:

• Financial - cost of course fees, also external International exam fees, course kits (products that she would need to undertake self-directed learning at home) Cost of transport and parking (always an issue in central city location - especially as Amy would be arriving late after dropping children at school). Amy may not be eligible for a student allowance, or any help toward course fees.



• Time - even though the on-site attendance at the programme is 20 hours, Amy would be expected to put in 20 hours of self-directed learning at home, she would also need to find models for her case studies and make up any work that she misses if she needs to take time off for family reasons. Travelling distance would be a factor to consider - a daily 40 minute each way drive - and the need to collect/drop off children would need to be considered.



• Level of study - Amy has no formal qualifications - how would she cope with the level of study involved - entry criteria are in place for the programme - and prior life experience is always taken into account, however Amy would need to be certain that she could cope with the learning. Amy would be required to complete case studies, produce her own consultation forms, undertake weekly anatomy and physiology tests, along with revising.
  Amy would struggle with the level of learning and would need learning support and possible peer tutoring - is this something she has time for?



• Dedication - is this something that she really wants to do, or is it just something that she thinks is going to be fun and frivolous.Is she going to be able to commit to her studies with all the external factors competing for her time and energy.



• Physically - Amy suffers from depression on occasion, is this something that may affect her ability to handle pressure and deadlines, is she going to be able to cope hearing about other peoples issues and problems on an hourly basis.

With all these considerations to take into account it would be very easy for me as a tutor to turn here away without thinking about how we could be flexible and allow Amy to undertake some sort of study.

My first options for Amy would be to :

• Enrol Amy on our Certificate in Beauty Skills Programme - this would give Amy an introduction to the full time programme - but is offered over evenings and weekends
• Let Amy know about the support network that we have available for students through access Aoraki
• Tell Amy about our close working relationship with Literacy Aoteroa and how they can help her with study skills

This would certainly be the starting point for Amy, that hopefully would lead to a rewarding career in the industry.