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Chasing my dream career in Business Information Systems with Cardiff Met

Lahja reading a book
Lahja reading a book

Hi, I’m Lahja Shiimi, a Business Information Systems student and course rep at Cardiff Met. Here is my story.

My dream initially was to become a recruitment consultant, but it started changing as soon as I moved to the UK. Coming here was challenging, and probably one of the biggest steps I ever took on my own.

My interest in technology first started in college when I came across the Lego EV3 Mindstorms – a robotics educational kit. I developed a massive desire to know more about these programmes, what they are used for and how they work. I started taking extra lessons in college, which led me to understand more about robotics programming languages such as EV3 Python. I enjoyed my time at the College and obtained my Level 3 Diploma in Business Administration, as well as being awarded a prize for the best academic year in Business – amazing!

Lahja sitting at her desk
Initially I wanted to work in HR, but my passion for technology soon took over!

I then decided to enrol in an HR course at Cardiff Met, but in the back of my mind, I still had the desire of learning more about technology. My course was going great, but I soon found myself losing interest. I kept thinking that technology might have been the right career path for me. It got to the point where I wanted to watch YouTube videos about programming languages instead of a film when I was bored! I decided to email one of my tutors to help me make a decision. He clarified all I needed to know, and I decided to give Business Information Systems a go.

I’m at the very beginning of this journey, but I can already feel the difference in the level of understanding of tech I developed since I started the course.

Lahja coding on her latptop
Learning how information systems work and using programming languages is very exciting for me

The joy of using a web page knowing exactly what is behind the link I clicked, or how the web server communicates with websites behind the scene, is incredible. Before starting the course, I had only heard of HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Ajax and jQuery, but had no clue how they worked. A few months into my course, I can already start building a website from scratch – which is so exciting for me, because I have only been studying this module for 3 months. I am looking forward to more exciting discoveries on the course.

I am happy with my choice with no regrets whatsoever. The motivation I got from my lectures has boosted my understanding of both the course material and my future career. I am looking forward to completing my degree, but I will also start looking for a part-time job within IT to help familiarise myself with the kind of jobs I am after. I would like to work as an Information Systems Analyst or a Software Developer. All I need to do is keep learning, ask for help when I need it, and keep improving my knowledge on this career path.