“With the right support and hard work anyone can achieve their goals and help inspire others in similar situations.”
That’s the message from Chloe Black, who recently took up the post of Trainee Computing Lecturer at Borders College, within the STEM team.
Chloe graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with an honours degree in Interactive Media Design in July 2020 and is currently undertaking her Masters in Computing, a great achievement after overcoming many obstacles throughout her studies. She commented:
“I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia as a youngster and this proved challenging throughout my school and university years. I didn’t let this get in the way of my goals and I’m delighted to be in the position I’m in today.”
Chloe, who is 22 and lives in Stow, is passionate about her subject and can’t wait to start her lecturing role with the College, saying:
"Interactive media is all around us and is only going to expand further in the future. Teaching a subject I love and passing my knowledge onto the students is something I’m really looking forward to.”
Chloe now hopes to help others in her new role, adding:
“One of the biggest challenges for me as a student has been the pandemic. Studying from home and not having the face-to-face interaction has been difficult. I can hopefully take my experience from this and apply it to my new role, helping others in the same situation.”
“Support with learning difficulties is also something I’m keen to speak with students about and I would love to use my own personal knowledge/experience to pass onto them.”
Asked about what advice she would give to students, Chloe said:
“Whatever you want to achieve, go for it and don’t underestimate yourself. I’ve gained many different skills, but personally, the best skill I’ve worked on is my self-confidence. My Dyslexia always made me feel as though I had to work ten times harder than my peers, however, here I am today and relishing the challenge ahead.”
Chloe created a blog while studying at Napier, which you can read here.