Spotlight on Talent: Charlene Pottinger

“The support I received at the college was fantastic so I decided to tackle the HNC and HND before going to university.”

Charlene Pottinger
Level 3, HNC, HND Computing

A Computing course here at Walsall College was just the start for ambitious young mum Charlene. After winning Student of the Year, she was spurred on to a degree in Forensic Computing and Computing Science at Staffordshire University. Now she’s using her IT skills with Raytheon as a SQL Server Database Administrator, working on some challenging projects both in the UK and Europe.

“When I started the course my daughter was very young so I had to come in the evenings as I didn’t get much study time at home. It was difficult and I had to work hard and manage my time but the reward was definitely worth it. The support I received at the college was fantastic so I decided to tackle the HNC and HND before going to university.

Winning the Student of the year Award has given me even more drive to succeed and has shown me that you may not think your hard work is not recognised but it is. That day was one of the best days of my life.

I eventually hope to set up my own business or be a manager of a top firm. There aren’t many women in high positions who specialise in Computing but I am determined to do it. I would encourage any girls with an interest in Computing to get involved, anything’s possible and you can go high places with Computing – I will be able to go anywhere in the world with my skills.”