Benedicta, 27, is a personal banker and sales team manager from Ghana. Here she shares how she raised money to fund her studies at university, why she’s proud of graduating and progressing at work and how FutureLearn helped her to stand out and continues to improve her skills and personal development.
“I work on contracts as a Personal Banker and Sales Team manager in a bank. In my spare time, I love to travel and read books. I love the beach and I am madly in love with paintings. I also write poems once in a while when I am inspired. Mostly, I want to improve myself and be better than I was each new day.
One of the most defining moments in my life is graduating from university. What really stands out about it is that none of my siblings had been to the university so I am the first. One major difficulty was funding my education through university, especially in my final year. I studied hard so that I could teach my friends who were in evening school, I got some money from them as payment since they did not have time to study full-time and due to them combining work with school, they had challenges concentrating in class. I also became a sales agent for a recognised brand, PZ Cussons, to sell and distribute their products to shops and students on campus. This fetched me some more money so that I could pay my registration fees. In the midst of this difficulty, I was able to graduate with a First Class Honors. It has been quite a journey but I have enjoyed it all along.
As for FutureLearn, a friend introduced me. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, to have the chance to study a range of courses online for free. This was way back in the year 2014, but when I logged on, I realised that it was not a joke.
FutureLearn has made me stand out among my work peers, the majority of whom are not really concerned with studying online or reading about anything that will add value to their current work.
I am very proud of working hard enough to be promoted to a team manager in my organisation. The portfolio I have managed so far, the targets I have achieved and the contacts I have been able to make.
My motivations for taking courses on FutureLearn are to improve my career prospects, learn new skills and also for my personal development. I now want to further my education. An MBA is my next step and I would love to do it as soon as I can afford to pay for my education.”
Inspired by Benedicta’s story?
Take a look at the courses that helped her:
How to Succeed at: Interviews
Numeracy Skills for Employability and the Workplace
