What a pleasure it was to welcome new and returning students to West Lothian College at twelve induction sessions over these last two weeks!

Each day, as hundreds turned up for course-specific inductions, our friendly Student Support team greeted and guided students to their faculties. Lecturers took student groups on tours around the campus where they received a warm welcome from everyone they met.

After this, students gathered in groups of up to 200 in our sports hall where I, our new student association presidents, our student funds officer and our active campus coordinator welcomed them to college.

I shared a bit about my own experience of college and that I remember very clearly how I felt when I started at Glasgow College of Technology in 1987 – excited, nervous and worried all at the same time!

Excited about learning new skills in an area that I hoped would lead to a good job after years of insecure jobs and unemployment.

Nervous about how I would cope with learning something completely different, especially as I had been away from school for over seven years.

Worried that I wouldn’t make friends because I was a good bit older than most students on my course.

I did make friends, I did cope with (most of) the new learning, and a few years later I did get a good job. But it wasn’t all straightforward and I learned a few lessons along the way.

I learned that turning up to classes and practical sessions was really important, as catching up was hard. This was especially tough as I started college four months after having a baby!

I realised quickly that I needed to work hard, and I spent many long nights in the library listening to 1980s tunes on my Sony Walkman cassette player (apologies to younger readers who won’t recognise this very old tech!)

And I found out the hard way how important it was to ask for help when you get stuck! All through my first year at college I struggled with Maths but I didn’t tell anyone. At the end of the year I failed my exam and it felt like it was the end of the world.

Suddenly this good job I hoped for seemed impossible. I felt stupid.

Failing the exam was the first time that other students and lecturers realised I had not been coping with Maths. They helped me to understand the subject better and I passed my re-sit. But I could have avoided months of anxiety and a huge dip in my confidence if I had spoken up earlier.

So, my biggest piece of advice to students when learning something new is to always ask for help if there’s anything you don’t understand.

You are not stupid, you just don’t get it yet!