Hazel Coutts
My early years were spent in Angus and I attended a small rural Primary School where I felt I really belonged. When I was at Secondary School my family moved to Fife and I have few positive memories as being the ‘new girl’ I felt isolated and was bullied. Because of this I truanted quite a bit and left school with no qualifications. After school I worked in a factory for a while before moving back to Angus where I got married and had two children of my own. I started working as a nanny to supplement the family income and it fitted in with having two children.
When my Dad died in 2001 it gave me the drive I needed as I realised I wanted to make him proud. I was also lucky enough to have a very supportive employer who helped me to believe I could fulfil my potential. I thought about it for a couple of years before I signed up for a community course based on behavioural science called Learning@Edzell. After that I went on to complete my HNC in Social Sciences and HND in Social Science with Management at Angus College. I did my BA degree in Social Science with Abertay University and a postgraduate Diploma in Community Education at the University of Dundee.
Work hard and take your knowledge everywhere you go because you never know when it might come in useful.
I’ve now landed a fantastic job as a Local Multi Agency Resource Team Development Worker for Angus Council, which aims to help young people at risk of offending. I have gained confidence, become an active citizen, parent, daughter and question the messages I had been given all my life regarding my potential. I now welcome the challenges and tasks that I might have shied away from before. It wasn’t easy to maintain a work/home balance while I was studying, but I can now see a knock on effect to my children. Through my achievements my 12 year old now sees the opportunities available to him and that is very satisfying. I can choose to do a job I love, give my children a better quality of life, get better working-conditions and can access salaries that I could only dream of before.