Students prepare for Tomorrow's World
Over 160 students representing Northern Ireland’s six Regional Colleges recently ascended on South West College in Dungannon for the Embracing Enterprise Conference. Students from a range of curriculum areas took part in conference, which ran as part of the Advancing Enterprise project, aimed at enhancing the enterprise knowledge of young people across Northern Ireland by introducing them to self-employment as a career option and providing a specialised local support for innovators and entrepreneurs alike.
The conference was compered by Adrian Logan and welcomed two very inspirational guest speakers, Sandra Miskimmin and Billy Dixon to share their experiences of enterprise and what is takes to succeed in challenging times.
Sandra, an Area Sales Manager with ‘VIE at Home’ has worked in the business for the last 8 years and now leads a team of 150 enterprising females. Sandra shared with the student body the story of her career changes throughout the years until she eventually plucked up the courage to become self-employed, which she thoroughly enjoys.
Sandra spoke of the challenges and satisfaction experienced with self-employment and recounted her success story on how she has built an award winning team in the west of Northern Ireland, whilst being a full-time mum. At the recent VIE Annual Leadership Seminar, Sandra walked away with five awards including two prestigious VIE Awards for achieving the highest sales from new consultants and the highest credits of the year.
Billy Dixon has been described in the media as one of Europe’s leading authorities and commentators on personal projection, communication and team dynamics. He has advised national and international leaders and lists many well-known blue chip companies as his customers. Having worked extensively in the political, media, sports and corporate arenas, Billy offered the students some ‘take-away’ tips into the winning habits of successful people.
During the conference the students also competed in a cross college enterprise challenge entitled ‘Tomorrow’s world – it’s your future – how can you help to make it better’, by identifying a market opportunity for a new product or service that would make the world a better place. The judging panel selected 10 of the best pitches who were invited to the stage to present their ideas and vie for the lucrative prizes of Amazon vouchers!
The College’s enterprise team would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who attended the event; the special guests for sharing their advice, inspirational stories and energy to the students and the event sponsors, including the Department for Employment and Learning, Cadbury’s, Mars and Tayto.
