DCG Success Stories

Guidance from her college lecturers helped DCG student Ashley Grell stay motivated while she worked towards her level 3 BTEC National Extended Diploma in Business.

Ashley, now aged 21, came to the East Midlands in 2017 from the Caribbean island of St Maarten where she had been studying business.

Keen to further her qualifications and go onto university, she enrolled at the Roundhouse after Derby College was recommended to her by a friend.

Now on a BA Hons Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation degree course at De Montfort University in Leicester, Ashley plans to establish a hotel venture here in Britain and in her home country.

She said: “I liked the social life and the campus facilities at the Roundhouse but the best thing about my college course was the quality of the teaching.

I had not had that level of support from teachers back home and I hadn’t expected to get so much guidance on my BTEC course.

At Derby College we had regular one-to-ones with our lecturers. They were always there to help us and see if we were ok.

I think it really helps you stay motivated when teachers guide you in your learning. Derby College teachers are equipped with the skills and acumen needed to teach other students, and the College should definitely be recommended more.”

Ashley did well on her BTEC course, receiving a Student of the Month Award in December 2019 and leaving college with three D*s.

She is now considering taking a master’s degree after she’s graduated, but her ultimate goal is to set up a hotel business.

Ashley added: “I came up with the idea because the hotels in my home country are much more luxurious than here in Britain, with their own pools etc.

I’d like to bring my experience of living there and the hotels I’m used to in St Maarten to the UK hotel market. I’ve always been entrepreneurial – I also currently have my own skincare business.”