Promising Career for Architectural Student

ARCHITECTURAL technician Jaime Taylor is building a promising career for herself after scooping a prestigious education award.

She was named best building student of the year at Darlington College’s recent awards ceremony, in recognition of her hard work and determination to succeed in the industry.
 
And Jaime’s academic achievements were made even more remarkable by the fact that she could have given birth to her second son – Charlie, who is now five months old - at anytime in the run-up to her final exams.
 
The 31-year-old, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, started a National Certificate in Construction course at the College four years ago after landing a role as a junior technician with P and HS Architects, in Stokesley.
 
The course gave Jaime a basic grounding in the industry and she scored 11 distinctions and a merit from her 12 modules.
 
From there, she went on to the HNC in Building Studies, which is run at Darlington College through its partnership with the University of Teesside.
 
She was a star performer once again, successfully completing the course despite juggling her studies with looking after five-year-old son Sam and having a second baby on the way.
 
“I was determined to hold on and not give birth until I’d finished my exams, as I didn’t want to go through re-sits,” said Jaime.
 
“I’m really pleased that I enrolled at the College because it’s been a fantastic experience. I’d always wanted to be an architect, but I had no experience and I had a family, so I thought it was a dream that would never come true.
 
“I was working in retail when the chance arose to work at P and HS and do one day a week at college. The College’s tutors were fantastic with me and my employers put a lot of faith in me as well.”
 
Jaime was given the Jewson Tool Hire Award for HNC Building Student at the College’s presentation evening at Darlington Civic Theatre.
 
Tutor Lisa Bowerbank said: “Jaime continued to produce work of an extremely high standard, even as she got closer and closer to having her baby. She was a brilliant student and we wish her every success in the future.”