Hard work lands student top award

Coolup resident Nicole Freeman was crowned Harvey TAFE campus Student of the Year for her high standard of work completing a certificate III in business.

Despite juggling TAFE with full-time work as a chef in Waroona, Ms Freeman applied herself to her studies with enthusiasm.

Business lecturer Kate Clancy, who nominated Ms Freeman, said her work was outstanding.

“Nicole’s work was well above the standard required and she showed great leadership skills,” she said.

“She was motivated, bubbly, always happy to help others and had earned the respect of her class mates. “The certificate III in business course is a great stepping stone to diversify into a range of more specific certificate IV courses.”

Ms Freeman was one of seven Harvey TAFE students nominated for the award by their lecturers and was selected after an interview by an independent panel.

Ms Freeman, who was unable to attend the awards night last month, did not know she had won until Harvey campus manager Jacqueline Elizabeth called her to drop in. When presented with her award, Ms Freeman said she was not expecting this and did not even know there was an award for a Harvey campus Student of the Year.

“The Harvey campus suited me because it is close to where I live and in our smaller group we had lots of one-to-one attention and help if we needed it,” she said.

Ms Freeman said she enjoyed working with other mature-aged students who studied because they wanted to further their career.