Petrol,
farmyard,
grassy,
floral,
herbaceous…
there are some characteristics of certain
wines that don't always sound
that appealing, but when you put your
nose in the glass you
can actually "Ooh, yeah,
I can kind of see what that means."
I've always had a strong interest in
wine because you're always learning
about new wines, new, new areas
that they come from.
I work in wine retail
and I've done that for the past 17 years.
Wine can be quite a confusing
or intimidating thing
for some people,
so I just like to,
to try and break down the
pretence a bit.
I enjoy building up a
relationship with customers.
On the days
that I'm off work
they are – my purely devoted to my study days.
I chose distance
learning because it
obviously gave me the
flexibility to work and study at the same time.
I have an office in the garden
where I can study
so I'm completely separate from
the house, so
there's no distractions there.
The types of assessment I've had
to do have varied from –
I'd say mainly written assignments,
but there have also been
a few oral recordings to do
along the way as well.
I think the main
benefit of doing a written assignment
is to be able to consolidate
what you've been learning
over the past unit
that that assignment's testing.
You have to get over 40 per cent
to pass.
One assignment I was really worried
about was a recent one
where I, I doubted
the knowledge that I had acquired
through that unit.
I thought I might just scrape a
grade two, but I ended up
getting a grade one, it was one of those
– I got it back, I think
"How did that happen?" you know.
The best tip for assignments
really is to start as soon as possible,
it really is and
to be well prepared, you know,
prepare yourself for doing it and
allow yourself plenty of time.
I've had a couple of exams
over the course of the past few years.
Exam stress
for me has always been a problem:
I always think I'm never
going to remember anything,
but once I'm in there, after
10 or 15 minutes
I find my focus and generally get on with it.
In terms of being prepared for exams,
it's setting a realistic revision timetable
in advance.
My next assignment is my final assignment
for the course I'm doing.
Ideally I'd like to get a grade one
but if I get a grade two –
that's super.
Between sort of bouts of study, or
at the end of the day, I try
and go for a wee walk locally.
I'm a bit of an amateur birdwatcher
and I quite like going
out to see what I can spot.
My wife was a distance learning student
to start with, and seeing her
achieve made me
believe that
"Yes, I can do this too."
I've had her to
support me along the way.
I think support
is really important when you're
doing a distance learning course.
I've gained a real sense of achievement
on my course
and I'm really looking forward to
the opportunities that it will give me
in the future.
Go the distance.