ADL’s students are a diverse bunch.  From accountants to zoo-keepers, from teens to those in their twilight years.  Our wide ranging and broad student body comes from all ages and all walks of life, showing that you are never too old, too young, too educated or not educated enough to benefit from a new course of study to broaden your horizons.

Today, we introduce Juudit Alvarenga, a 34 year old charity worker who lives in London with her husband where she has been living since the turn of the millennium, the year 2000.  A psychology graduate, Juudit studied the subject to master’s level at University.  Looking to find an outlet for her learning and talent, she considered Careers Counselling. 

This was when she discovered the ADL Careers Counselling course.   Comparing it with others, she found that the course as offered by ADL better met her needs.  Other ones required her to spend time in a classroom, meaning they lacked the flexibility to fit around the needs and schedule of her life.  Being able to do this course meant the Juudit could combine it with her prior qualifications in psychology to find work in a related field.

The Student led approach of the ADL course was ideal for Juudit, who found that it worked well with her naturally active and inquisitive nature of learning.  She found that the real world situations dealt with by the course gave her a pragmatic insight into the needs of a Careers Counsellor and those they work with.  For example, she was required to put herself into the shoes of a jobseeker, which she found invaluable as a practical aspect, helping her better to understand the subject both in this and other scenarios. 

Furthermore, the assignment based nature of assessment and the associated research gave her an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of her knowledge to her tutor, Mrs Iona Lister.  Juudit had plenty of praise to offer for Iona, whose feedback Juudit appreciated during her course. This was especially in terms of the quality given and the personal ability of Iona to recognise those weaknesses in Juudit’s personal knowledge and working to help her correct them. 

Through this, she helped to prepare Juudit for the examination she recently undertook at ADL’s Canterbury office which will mark the conclusion of her course.  Though nervous, there is every reason to believe she’s done extremely well and for her diligence, preparation and attention to her studies has earned herself a nomination for ADL’s student of the year award.