James Peato

National Certificate in Computing Level 2 & 3
University Scholarship recipient

From troubled youth to scholarly plans for the future, James has made admirable changes to his life. After getting expelled from high school James sat at home bored and remorseful of the bad decisions he made until his uncle referred him to the Youth Programme at BEST.

"Since coming to BEST, I realised that people did care about me and there was a way of learning that I could relate to... BEST tutors helped me regain my confidence and showed me that I was good at something."

James also enjoyed the fact that learning with other Pacific people and being taught by Pacific people made him more comfortable to retain information. "I like that my tutors also cared enough to give us personal advice and heaps of support throughout the course."

James graduated from the Youth Programme in December 2008 and won a special Scholarship to continue his education at university studying Social Sciences. He hopes to proceed to a Diploma and then a Degree, but in the meantime, he is helping out at the Delta Avenue campus to encourage other students like him succeed. James' world has opened up so much that he now has two career choices in mind; Sports Therapist or Youth Worker.