Students sought to belong to a community of support, and valued the social opportunities
that the course provided:
I would like to meet similar minded people and make most of my time at the University of
Birmingham.
I hope I can make more friends.
I could get the direction, instruction and help from the working staff and peer group members so
that both technical ability and deep friendship could be obtained.
I wish to share my professional work experience as I have been working in a small humanitarian
aid organisation in the South East Asian for 3 years (Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia). At
the same time, I am hoping to learn from other people who join in this group of the personal skills
award. I expect to meet new people from different background and exchange ideas, which could
help me in terms of improving my skills.
Students recognised that they needed support in articulating their skills:
My experience from previous employment is broad; I have worked as a croupier, in telesales, in
retail and as an archivist. I obtained skills from these jobs which are attractive to potential
employers; however I cannot express these attributes in an articulate