Valentina Gonzalez-Castaneda is studying Art & Design Extended Diploma Level 3 (year 2).
“I visited Carshalton College during the enrolment period to see what my study options were. I had recently moved from Colombia and we lived close to the College. I knew I wanted to eventually study Architecture so needed to find a pathway to get to university.
I enrolled on a Level 2 Digital Media course studying functional skills alongside this to improve my English and maths. I went on to the Art & Design Level 3 and after the first year on this course, I achieved top marks in GCSE English and Maths. I even managed to achieve a distinction in spoken English, the only one to do so from my class. I am now on Year 2 of the Extended Diploma course and have just chosen my university options.
My journey has been a hard one. I was initially very nervous about my abilities however extremely pleased to have eventually succeeded. The difficulties I faced at the start such as differences in language, culture, environment etc. made me push myself.
