Mairi Stewart

Mairi Stewart - On Track Participant, April 2003 and On Track Tutor, November 2005 - Present

My experience with On Track has been two-fold. As an HND student at James Watt College I took part in the On Track programme and found it to be a positive and rewarding experience. The information that was presented combined with useful handouts and the On Track tutor/mentor’s own academic experiences all helped to alleviate any fears and misconceptions that I had about going on to degree-level study. I also found that my self confidence grew as the course proceeded and ultimately the prospect of making the jump from college to university did not seem such an ordeal, indeed I felt that it was something well within my capabilities.

I have been working as an On Track tutor since December 2005 and again this has been a very positive and rewarding experience. Having the opportunity to deliver such a well designed and flexible course has been a pleasure. Also being able to share my own experiences from college and university with students has proved to be a very beneficial and gratifying adventure. The students with very few exceptions seemed to embrace the course and genuinely seemed to get a lot from it. To hear comments from students like, for example, “University seems more do-able now that I’ve done On Track” and “I don’t feel so scared about moving on to university now as I feel equipped especially with having some great handouts to take with me”, really made the whole experience worthwhile for me. Tutoring with On Track also gave me practical experience of lesson planning, delivering information and managing students in a classroom setting which all helps me develop my skills and provides a good foundation on which I can hopefully build a career in adult education and adult literacy.

Thus for me, both as a student and as a tutor, On Track has proven to have been a practical, rewarding and beneficial programme that aids and enables many students to make that tricky and daunting transition from college to university more smoothly.

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