Sui completed Year 11 and 12 at North Lake as a mature-age student, graduating in 2016. She gained her English language skills in the IEC after arriving in Australia from Myanmar. Sui soon gained a reputation as a student who simply got on with things. She was awarded a Rotary Club of Booragoon Endeavour Scholarship in 2015 and at the 2016 Year 12 valedictory won the Photography & Design learning area award and was named Caltex allrounder. She made a strong contribution to campus life during a marketing work placement and then made such a success of a short work-placement that she gained full-time employment as a dental assistant.
Here’s Sui’s story (so far)…
When I started IEC in 2014, I could hardly speak English. I often got lost when we switched from one class to the other but everyone was amazing and helpful. Sometimes they were actually looking for me and would find me if I didn’t get to class in time. Everyone was treated like brothers and sisters.
North Lake has multicultural students and has a friendly atmosphere. The teachers are very friendly and supportive, perfect for mature-age students like me who want to finish Year 11 and 12 and also suitable for people with basic English.
After spending a few years there, I called North Lake my school home. The fun part was taking photos of flowers or classmates.
When I finished in 2016, I felt really sad that I was going to leave this campus. By then I had more confidence with my English. I particularly thank Mike (my favourite photography teacher) for introducing me to Les who helped me to get my job as a dental assistant at Grace Tai Dental.
In 2017, I started Certificates lll and lV in Dental Assisting courses online while working full-time and finished in 2019. I did UniReady last semester and now I am studying my first semester of a Bachelor of Health Science at Curtin University.
I’m hoping to do Oral Health Therapy next year but whether or not I can get in will depend on my mark in this semester.
So, I’m studying full time at Curtin and still working part-time as a dental assistant.
Because of North Lake I could find my passion. I thank North Lake for helping me to get this far.