Profile twenty two

I am a student from Angola, living and studying in Liverpool. I have been living in Liverpool for five years now and I live with my little boy.

I have been studying Business Studies in college for four years. I then decided to go to university to study accounting and finance. The financial demands that the years of study would make on me were my main concern about going to university.   I do not have any family here in the UK. Also I could not apply for part time work during the weekend to support me with my studies as I have a little boy and I do not have anyone to take care of him.

My teacher was concerned about my situation and suggested that I applied to the John Moran Educational Trust for help. After sending in my application, I received a letter inviting me to come for interview. This took place on a Saturday and was a big issue for me as I was wondering who would l look after my little boy. Luckily one of my friends agreed to look after him and I attended the interview. 
About a week after the interview the Trust wrote to me saying that I had been chosen for an award. The money that was given to me by the trust helped me to buy a laptop and printer

I have now started Liverpool John Moores University.  I really enjoyed my first week as I met new teachers and students.  It is a completely new experience.

Finally I would like to say thanks to the trustees for the award which will be a great help to me during my time at university.

I had a wonderful first year because I met new friends. Most of them are really lovely people and the university atmosphere was just great. I would like to thank the John Moran Educational Trust for the support that they have provided to me during my academic year. The financial support I received from the Trust helped me to pay 15% of my childcare costs each week which was £80 a month. This helped me to concentrate on my studies and as a result I have passed all my modules first time and I’m going into second year in September. The money also helped me with the bus pass and other university expenses.

.This is my second year at Liverpool John Moores university and I have made some significant progress mainly in my writing skills and overall performance because of the support that I have received from the trustees. As result of that I have passed all my exams.  My overall grade was 66%.  Futhermore, the scholarship has been really helpful to me as the money that I received helped me to pass my driving license, pay my childcare cost differences and meet some other household costs.
This year I have experienced working as part of a team; a group assignment required us to produce a power point presentation about accounting professional bodies. The project required us to work in teams of two or three students. From this exercise I learnt that it is important to motivate each other when working in a group.  Group work is complicated by the fact that individual members of the group may face particular problems and each person will bring different skills and abilities to the task. Working as a team can make things easier as you can split the task between team members using their various strengths.   

The part of the year that I did not enjoy, was our exams timetable as the exams were very close together.  I have learnt that you need to start preparing your exams on the first day of your academic year and not from the day that the exam timetable is published.