Student Profile: Thomas Hawick

Thomas Hawick spent nearly six years studying at Shetland College UHI. He had a very positive experience as a student, and supplemented his college learning with some fantastic volunteer experience in the Shetland Community. In 2016 he was awarded a Shetland Youth Volunteering award in recognition of his achievement.

After New Directions gave him a taste of college life, Thomas progressed to the Introduction to Care course (now known as NC Child, Health and Social Care) and then on to NC Early Education and Childcare. The New Directions programme provides tasters in different departments, which was very important for helping Thomas choose his path.

Thomas admits he was a bit shaky on his first day of Introduction to Care but he soon got his head down and got on with the work! His lecturer Lorraine was very helpful and supportive throughout, and Thomas enjoyed learning about caring for children, the elderly and adults with special needs. Having already done three years of volunteering with Cope Ltd, Thomas volunteered at Sandwick Youth Club which provided excellent experience of supporting children. Lifeskills encouraged him to volunteer with Disability Shetland - five years later he was still there! The team there were very helpful, and Thomas was keen to thank them for this. Thomas's wide range of volunteer experience proved useful in the classroom as well, as practical experience of helping others really helps put the college care courses into context.

Thomas chose to progress to NC Early Education and Childcare, and was again provided with workplace experience at Sound Nursery. Although the NC course was a lot of work, it was also a very beneficial and rewarding experience. Thomas enjoyed both the hands on practical experience offered on work placement and the chance to develop a theoretical understanding of how to work with children.

After two previous nominations for the VAS Youth Volunteer of the Year, Thomas finally picked up the accolade at the 2016 awards ceremony. He described the award as an unexpected surprise and was happy to thank those who supported him over the years. He also received a saltire award for 500 hours of volunteering and the summit award for Outstanding Contribution.

He is very keen to encourage other young people to get involved in volunteering as it is such a rewarding and beneficial experience to spend your time helping others. His time at the college was a very rewarding experience as well, and he was keen to say that he could not thank his lecturers enough for keeping him on track while studying at Shetland College UHI. As for the future, he has not ruled out studying an HNC or SVQ in the future, so his learning journey may not be over yet!

Thomas now works at Scalloway Preschool and Hame Fae Hame.

'Volunteering could be one of the best things in your life - it helps others and benefits your future. Dip your toe in the water and if you don't like it at least you've tried. It's like what we say to the bairns at Sound Nursery - if you have a bite of the food and don't like it, at least you've had a taste!' Thomas Hawick