‘You can achieve your goals if you believe in yourself’
Amother who learned Welsh thanks to her young son and a dance student who left school with few qualifications, are supporting a campaign to help raise awareness of how adults can learn new skills.
In the run-up to Adult Learners’ Week, which runs from June 19-25, they are sharing their experiences to encourage others to carry on learning.
After getting involved with the wrong crowd at school and leaving education with only a few GCSEs, Joshua Dance, 20, thought the career opportunities available to him would be limited.
Joshua decided to go back to education to study a BTEC in performing arts at Rubicon Dance and is now planning to move to London to further his career.
His original plan was to join the Army and on the day of his first audition at Rubicon, he was just a week away from starting infantry training before he decided to follow his passion to dance.
Joshua, who lives in Dinas Powys, said going back to education turned his life around.
“The classroom environment doesn’t work for everyone,” he said.
“I’d danced a bit as a teenager but never considered it as a career and thought I couldn’t get the qualifications or have the drive I needed to make that into a reality.
“Rubicon changed my life completely – I don’t know what I would be doing if it wasn’t for the support and training I received. After just a few weeks working with the tutors, not only did I develop my dancing skills, but my writing, literacy and language skills also improved and I got to grips with what I needed to do to become successful.
“My tutor, Paul, just didn’t give up on me. He took me right back to the basics of essay-writing and researching and gave me the confidence to ask questions to make sure I reached my potential. As soon as I found something I was passionate about, it just clicked and my eyes lit up.
“The course is about 80% dance, which includes ballet, contemporary, salsa and Bollywood, and 20% theory, where I had to write a 3,000word essay – something I never thought I could complete, let alone to a high standard.”
Joshua who has performed with world-renowned Matthew Bourne’s dance company on stage at the Millennium Centre, now hopes to complete his English GCSE in order to study a BA honours degree in Theatre Dance at London Studio Centre after being offered a full scholarship.
“When I left school, I initially felt lost, with no direction, but there’s no shame in taking a few steps back if it means you can move forward. It’s actually courageous not to settle and to push yourself to get the qualifications you need.
“There’s lots of different ways to reach your goal, and it might take you a bit longer, but if you have faith in yourself you’ll get there in the end.
“I’m starting an online course in the summer to get my English GCSE and start my professional dance training, and then who knows where it will take me? I mean, with my last name, it just makes sense!”
Mother Rosie Berry is qualified to