[Applause]
[Music]
i guess i've always liked helping people
and the jobs that i've picked over the
years was always
of supporting somebody else or helping
somebody else
um
and i've always thought
what is the next step for this in terms
of
to make a career for myself i want to
be able to
have my own business i want to be able
to help people but i also want to be
able to be financially stable so that
was it i've just always wanted to help
people and i wanted to find something
where
i can get back from giving out as well
so i wanted something back in return
so i applied for
um the degree and luckily i got accepted
i mean
because i'm not academic by any stretch
of the imagination and it's uh i did
struggle
um
but it's been a battle but it's one that
i'm glad that i've stuck up
really supportive ever since i had my
interview they made it
abundantly clear that
they wanted me so i felt wanted from
the get-go
with them
supervision is built in group and
individual
really supported by the supervisors
and the groups and
they've had lots of clients for me um
and even when
i was going through my own struggles
they supported me through everything
i got that sense that i was the right
person for them and they weren't afraid
to
let me know that and the needs for
somebody like me in the field you know
um they were great
make sure this is exactly what you want
to do don't let the
negative voices tell you that you're not
good enough or you can't succeed in this
field work hard
and just be
open and honest all the way through
don't doubt yourself if you're
gonna go for it
go for it
everybody's been
supportive and
i didn't know that people thought there
was such a need for somebody like me in
the counseling world
um
so i do i do get messages
saying well done keep going don't don't
give up
um
lots of support
very supportive very um
complimentary very
and not even
just like friends or family or you know
work wise or
other companies when i've been in
certain places and find out that i'm
training to be a therapist you know i've
had so many so many people say
there is a need for somebody like you a
young black male that is potentially
going to help open doors for others who
may just look at you and see you
differently to what they're used to when
they hear
about therapy or
what they perceive as a therapist
i may change a lot of opinions and
it's a little bit of pressure that but
i'm not um
i'm not trying to shy away from it if
that is
um
for me the path that i have to go down
to help others then
that's what it is
see
this course
has opened my eyes a lot and it's made
me open up as a person more than i ever
envisioned
um
so obviously i've come into this
obviously i'm like
academia's not me but i'm still trying
to be as much as me as possible but
when i look back i'm glad that i was
able to change all the way through
and that is thanks to this course
because
you are asked to do things and pushed
into doing things that are against your
the norm um you are out of your comfort
zone especially for me in terms of
i always thought
i was the strong silent type which was
okay
but obviously here they don't want that
i want you to be open they want you to
be
letting people in
and
that wasn't
normal for me
to let people into
i was just used to being the helper
never the one asking for help or
thinking that i needed help
when we got into the group
and they're asking you to be vulnerable
and
for me being vulnerable isn't easy
so
even though it was in a safe environment
it took me a while to be able to open up
and grow into that
um
the cohort have been great but yeah it's
been a different experience and a
totally
um
worthwhile one if you are willing to
engage and open up to everything that is
coming your way see now all the way
through i fought
getting personal i didn't want it i was
telling that i don't need it because
obviously from my background it isn't
you don't go to people and open up and
tell them about your problems
that's what i learned from my parents
you keep everything in in-house
that's not saying that's right
or wrong for other people but the
background i grew up in that's what it
was so when i've come into this it was
just purely to help others not knowing
that i needed the support and help
myself
and then
i actually got very lucky
extremely lucky because i picked
somebody
since then it has gone from strength to
strength and she's helped me so much
as a man as a person as a therapist as
everything
definitely start my own business that is
very much at the forefront of my mind
so there is a little little
thing that's saying oh maybe my sister's
maybe at some stage being able to
do something for myself
whether that starts off at part time and
then i won't work my way into full time
but just being able to have something of
my own really
really um
it's left something burning and it's
ignited
that passion
and i do feel i can help a lot of people
um
if
when
i do start that so that is um
really really a pushing factor for me to
keep going
[Applause]
[Music]