Student Stories
We are constantly inspired by our student stories. Over the years we have seen many of our brilliant, beloved and hard-working students achieve Certifications in their chosen studies. Creating a future of new opportuntities and possibilites.
This makes us so happy, and really is what the College is all about.
Below are just some of the many Byron College student stories:
Susie Boag
Certificate III in Individual Support
Susie undertook the Certificate III in Individual Support with Byron Community College in 2017. Previously, she had been working as a secretary for a psychiatrist in Sydney and found she enjoyed working with people with intellectual disabilities. After relocating to Mullumbimby she came across the course at Byron College and...
Paul Thompson
Certificate III in Individual Support
I understand if me doing this course seems totally out of left field. After all, I’ve owned the tyre shop in Mullumbimby for 35 years. I enrolled because I want to make a difference in the world. I’m a caring person and I’ve always got along better with the older...
Michael Willis
Certificate III in Individual Support
I worked in hospitality for 18 years, managing pubs and hotels. Working a 70 hour week was normal and I was over it. After moving from Toowoomba to the Byron Shire for love, I gave myself a year of unofficial long service leave. My plan was to relax in paradise....
Mandy Morris
Certificate III in Individual Support
I am one of the founding members of Cape Byron Playback Theatre Company and I am also one of The Curly Cousins, Coco, the red one. I have a creative arts background and have studied acting, visual arts, creativity arts therapy and massage. I love living in this part of...
Susan Sweeney
Certificate III in Visual Arts
Susan Sweeney had heard wonderful things through the community about the Byron Community College’s Certificate III in Visual Arts course, and decided to enrol. Coming from more of an academic background, she was drawn to the course as a way of developing her more creative side and wanted to see...
David Willison
Certificate III in Individual Support
After several different careers that created stability but little stimulation toward my desire to be of service to others I came across the Byron Community College course program. My eyes fell upon Certificate 3 in Individual Support and I walked over to the college to sign up – a week...
Laia Sol Mola
Certificate III in Individual Support
After running my cleaning business for 12 years and going through the stages of becoming a single mother, I needed something more from life that I would feel inspired to do every day and would show my children that you can still develop yourself professionally when you are older. I...
Shiva Smyth
Certificate III in Horticulture
2017 was a big year of change for me, I was a qualified automotive vehicle painter at the start of the year and by the end of it I was a certified horticulturist on a completely different career path. Today I'm running my own property maintenance and landscaping business with...
Phoebe Violet
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
I love working with children not only is it a fun energetic job, but it's rewarding in so many ways. I love teaching children skills they will carry with them for life. Enrolling into the Childcare course was not a hard decision as I wanted to further my understanding of...
Jennifer Pletzer
certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
My partner and I were traveling around Australia, when he decided to study Permaculture and found the best suited course at the Byron Community College. I chose to have a browse through the College’s Brochure to see which course might appeal to me and found the Certificate III for Early Childhood...
Flick Durham
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
After working for many years in an industry I was not fully aligned with, I was led to discover my passion for the early development of children, specifically from 0-7years of age. I had been considering returning to school to study something of interest for a while, however I had...
Danielle Rowland
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
I am a born and bred Byron Shire teenager who was eager to continue educating myself. However, I was not only reluctant to leave our beautiful environment for further education, it was financially an impossibility. Fortunately, Byron Community College provided a most rewarding option. I have always loved children and...
Catherine Hollis
Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
Catherine came to Byron Community College somewhat terrified of returning to study. She had always thought about working with children and some friends had encouraged her to take the leap. “Enrolling in the course was a major first step for me in perusing this dream. It was big” There were...
Ryan Marlow
Certificate III in Aged Care
After moving to the Northern Rivers almost 9yrs ago from the Newcastle area, my employment has always been off and on with different casual positions. My work background was as a Paratrooper in the Army, a Photographer on a Cruise Ship anda Pest Technician baiting Termites amongst other things. I...
Richard Fielder
Certificate III in Aged Care
Coming from a self-employed career in landscape gardening/horticulture, Richard realised that he was running out of energy for the physical side this kind of work requires and needed a career change. He was also looking for more people contact/interaction with local community and hoping to feel more useful and gain...
Mac Maderski
Certificate III in Aged Care
The course not only offers necessary skills and knowledge needed to work in the industry but also provides personal development at a socio-multicultural level. It improves our understanding of what it is to care for our elderly and people with disabilities, teaches humility, compassion and patience which also reflects on...
Luise Gortz
Aged Care Cert III 2013
Having spent most of my working life as a jewellery designer I retired in 2012 and moved back to rural Mullumbimby. With spare time on my hands I started working as a volunteer in the Age care industry and realized that there was a great need for people like me....
Liz Winter
Certificate III in Aged Care
'LABOREM SEQUITUR SAPIENTIA' .... 'HARD WORK BRINGS SUCCESS' Running a small business from home for 25 years while my children were growing up was wonderful but a year ago I had a strong desire to do something different. I have always wanted to work in the health industry after briefly...
Vanessa Stewart
Certificate III Permaculture, Visual arts and more…
My adolescent love for the earth, community, and regenerative design drew me towards the orbit of permaculture. With hand-on-heart, studying at Byron Community College has been one of the most steep albeit rewarding decisions I have ever made. And one that continues to give back in spades, thanks to the...
Peter Critch
Certificate III in Permaculture
As a co-founder and compost expert for Subpod, I help people easily understand composting and gardening. Completing the permaculture course at Byron Community College was the springboard to this role. After finishing my Environmental Science degree, I wanted to save the world, but I quickly realised I had a whole...
Pavel Sola
Certificate III in Permaculture
Pawel, otherwise known as Pav, moved to Mullumbimby to study permaculture at Byron Community College and to start a community space with two of his friends, Juli and Henry. Before landing in Mullumbimby, Pav had been travelling but was ready to settle and commit to growing food and living a...
Nathan Strawbridge
Certificate III in Permaculture
Having come from a building background I hadn’t had much experience in gardening let alone Permaculture but I had heard of it as most people probably have and a few friends had undertaken various courses in it so when I came across Byron Community College I was pretty ecstatic to...
Mario Plaatsman
“Ralph” as he is known to his classmates is a mature age student who undertook the Certificate III in Permaculture at BCC. Ralph has a history working in food horticulture having worked on farms picking fruit in various locations around the country. After a 6 month stint in Sydney over...
Kym Ormond
Certificate IV Permaculture
I have always been interested in sustainability and seemed to spend most of my spare time in my garden. When travelling around Australia I was fortunate enough to volunteer on a small scale Permaculture farm in Derby, WA. After that stint it was an easy and natural decision to study...
Daniella Lawall
Certificate III in Horticulture and Certificate IV in Permaculture
Prior to studying at Byron College I ran a clothing shop in Coolangatta for 2 years selling natural fabrics and plants. Then I started thinking about farming, inspired by a desire to work with pants. An internet search lead me to the Byron College website and I considered studying horticulture...
Maisie Hall
Certificate III in Visual Arts
My 16 year old daughter Maisie was having a terrible time at school. It was a daily struggle for her to get there. She felt disconnected, despondent and really not sure what her future held. Maisie had always been a keen artist and throughout her childhood and turned to creating...
Melinda Simon
Certificate IV in Community Services
Melinda grew up in the Worimi and Biripi nations of the mid north coast of NSW in Taree and Foster Tuncurry. Her Great Aunt is Ella Simon who was a prominent welfare worker and Aboriginal activist. However, school was difficult for Melinda. She was a youth of the street living...
Garry Allen
Certificate IV in Community Services
Before commencing my Community Services Cert IV course at Byron Community College I was a Tradie, working as a Handyman. I had been for my entire career! As I thought about heading into semi-retirement, the idea of going back to study was pretty difficult and daunting at first. I’d not...
Stephanie Nedosyko
Certificate III in Horticulture and Certificate III in Permaculture
Having grown up in Adelaide, at the age of 24 I made the decision to leave, in search of the subtropics, sunshine and a new way of life. I luckily ended up in the Byron Shire. I studied Certificate III in Commercial Cookery back in 2015, and since been working...
Heiki Schimmelpfeng
Certificate IV in Massage Therapy
I learnt from the College that…it’s all about what we can offer to the world. I lost everything in my house during the recent floods. I managed to evacuate with my girls at 6am on the Monday but we couldn’t find my 77-year old neighbour and I was worried. She...
Zachiary Holt
Certificate III & IV in Permaculture
I grew up in Perth and then travelled to the UK for a couple of years, followed by a few in Melbourne and then a year in Africa. This is where I started my studies, completely my Permaculture Design Course. I spent the year travelling and volunteering in South Africa...
Tillie Angel De Wilde
Certificate III in Horticulture and Certificate III in Permaculture
After years of working in an office environment and not feeling like it was the right fit for her, Tillie met someone with permaculture experience who planted a seed that resulted in gardening and permaculture becoming her big passions. Later, upon hearing about the courses at Byron Region Community College,...
Eva Sigley
Certificate III in Individual Support
My interest in caring for started with my family. I have a brother with autism and a sister with brain damage. Seeing my siblings go through primary school, and the way society is not structured for them, has been a massive part of my life. I always wanted to help...
Alice Hoffman-Ross
Certificate III & IV in Permaculture
It feels surreal that I have ended up finding my passion through studying permaculture, especially considering I had never heard the word before, nor spent much time even looking at the ground beneath my feet. When an accident put me out of action for a year, it gave me the...
Audrey Harnett
Visual Arts
Growing up in Adelaide, I spent 30 years wanting to come up and live on the east coast. I did finally move here and while there have been some incredibly difficult and unexpected challenges with the passing of my husband and the recent floods, the opportunity I had to study...
Anne Fenwick
Certificate III in Individual Support
After spending most of my working career in retail, including 15 years at Dolphin Office Choice in Mullumbimby and Byron, my husband was badly hurt in a work accident, life came into sharp focus and our priorities quickly changed. As I began to wonder what changes I needed, or could...
