Nicola Halliday

Fulfilling a dream

Course: NCTJ newspaper journalism course

Nicki is a great example of pursuing a dream through sheer dedication, persistence and hard work.

She joined our NCTJ distance learning course in 2007 because her ambition was to become a newspaper journalist.

The NCTJ course is a marathon – it has more than 250 modules and 7 difficult exams.

Since 2007 she has persevered with the course, despite having a very demanding job as a personal assistant to three directors in a busy finance firm; and having a young baby to look after.

She has worked evenings, nights and weekends, and has used her holidays to do several stints of work attachments on a number of newspapers. She does her shorthand practice on the train to and from work every day.

She has passed all her exams so far, and only has a couple left before she becomes a fully qualified journalist.

Nicki has learned to cope with huge workloads and considerable relentless personal pressure over several years, and we believe this deserves recognition. She is a great example of someone using distance learning and 101% commitment to fulfil a dream.