Helen will always look back at her time at North Lake fondly. When she arrived at the IEC from Ethiopia her English was pretty limited. “I knew A,B,C,D… but I didn’t know anything else,” she recalled. “Oh and I knew ‘hello’! Now I’m good enough. I can speak and I can write in English.”
Good enough, in fact, to gain her WACE in 2018, complete a Cert lV in Health and Nursing Preparation at North Metro TAFE and be accepted into the Diploma of Nursing course at South Metro TAFE.
Helen’s goal is to move into aged care nursing. “I like helping people who are at a vulnerable time in their lives,” she said, “I’ve wanted to be nurse since I was a little girl.
“North Lake is a very good school, it taught me everything,” Helen said, “I even learned how to play footy. It was very good and I have so many good memories and so many friends from different countries.”
Helen’s North Lake friend Hewan has also been accepted into the Diploma of Nursing course at South Metro TAFE. They are in the centre of this picture at North Lake’s Harmony Day celebration in 2018.
