My name is Nicola King, and I'm doing a National Progression Award in Painting and Decorating at Fife College.
My journey basically started when I was on night shift, doing cleaning, and I wanted a cup of tea…had no milk…went to the shop…forgot my milk! On the way back up again, I saw Linda O'Hare and Karen Roxburgh sitting outside the church, and they asked if I wanted to do a course. So I did the Step In course for four months, and then it was the Step Up to the Dunfermline campus.
And then it was a ‘Start Here’ for NAT 4s course which I needed to then get on to my painting course. So, if I hadn't forgotten my milk that day, I would never have got here.
I originally thought that applying for college was going to be so difficult. The online form is just not for me. But Linda talked me through every wee step, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be, and I managed it, and I'm here, three years later.
Since finishing the Step In and Step Up, I'm really enjoying just expressing my creative side, and some bits I didn't even know I could do. And it's just amazing knowing that I can do those things...all the fine detail painting and things like that. I didn't know I had it in me, but there you go.
The thing I like most about the course is it's just what I have always wanted to do, to be honest, since I was about 16. I've wanted to be a painter and decorator, and now I'm finally on my way. It's so close, I can see it now. It's amazing!
Recently, the lecturer put me and another classmate forward for a wee competition for the NPAs, so there was 18 of us from different colleges. And that was pretty good. I had no idea it could be that good. We placed third. We were just thinking of it as a nice wee day out...change of scenery, but no we placed...so it was a nice wee boost of confidence knowing that we're actually good too!
I'm in my 30s, and I've managed to gain myself an apprenticeship starting in August, which is difficult in itself, being a female in the trade and then also being eight years older than the oldest age that anybody would take. It was just good word-of-mouth from your lecturers and them just vouching for me is amazing. I'm so buzzing for it!
