Jenny joined Route2Work College following her passion for working with animals. She achieved her level 2 SETPD in Animal Care in her first year and moved on to exploring the Land Based Studies vocation while completing her level 2 in Maths.
What skills have you learned through studied Land?
‘I’ve built my resilience, I’ve learned to become part of the team and enhanced my teamwork and skills. I’ve also learned how to think outside the box using things that you may not regularly use when creating projects such as scraps of sticks or small off cuts of wood, or even just tiny amounts of paint. ‘
What are your favourite things about Land?
‘I like the creativity you have, and I like the ability to, even if you’re not very good at drawing it out, have this image in your mind, write it there on your paper and you can get the too, you can get the gear and you can make it yourself. And you can have this thing that was just a figment of your imagination then put into a solid object and a physical form that you can look at and you can show people. And you can be proud of what you’re doing.’
Where do you go for work experience and what do you do there?
‘I go to Bill Quay Farm in Pelaw and most of my duties there are animal based. So, it’s cleaning out animal pens and putting down fresh bedding for them. Sometimes I do research on what certain animals need. If we’re getting new animals in, where recently we’ve had Emus. So I done research to ensure that we had the correct facilities for them. As well as that, I do weighing out food, and I also look at different types of food. What we’ll get is donations and I research what’s healthy for the animals and what dosages.’
What kind of job would you like to do in the future?
‘Ideally, I’d like to work with something like animals, possibly even in a farm setting. So it’s raising animals tending to them looking after them, and just enjoying being around them.’
What do you like about Route2Work College?
‘The staff are really friendly and they’re very accommodating for your needs and if you need any excess help or assurance in lessons, they’re very supportive with that. And they do what they can to help you as well. As well, I like how we get plenty of time, and we also get specified days and times, where we’re can just hang out with our friends and we can relax. Also if we need someone to talk to. We can talk to someone and we have safe environments where we feel comfortable enough to tell the staff members if there’s anything going on at home or if we have an issue with another student and they help resolve it.’
What has been your favourite experience at Route2Work College so far?
‘Probably when I was doing animal care, a couple of months ago. Obviously, I enjoyed working with the different animals and gaining my skills and learning about the different breeds of pigs and different breeds of cows and how each animal has become integrated within society almost. And become something that will rely on heavily for everyday life, even in the little things.’
Jenny has now achieved both her level 2 Maths and level 2 Land Based Studies SETPD and will be moving on to further education in the animal care and agriculture sector.
Route2Work 