“When I first told my family I was doing a rugby course they found it hilarious because I’m literally a human sloth and I shared their doubts,” reports SOHK graduate Natalie Rowatt.

“I started the SOHK course with low expectations of myself. I was convinced that 1) I would be terrible at rugby and 2) the course would not help me get a job. However, upon finishing it I had developed a new love of running about and have found that I am actually not bad at rugby. I’ve also joined a rugby team where I stay in Currie and I’m loving keeping fit and improving every week. I also have three jobs that I did not have when I started the course. Working at an after school club, working as a research assistant for my university professor and working as bank staff at a residential unit for young mothers. I would not have any of these jobs if it wasn’t for SOHK. The course, for the eight or nine weeks I was involved was my reason to wake up in the morning and got me out of bed and out of the house, which is more than I could have achieved by myself most days. Every week of the course I was rejected by a million different employers and every week I was okay with it because I still had SOHK to look forward to. It really meant a lot to have people believing in me and pushing me forward.

“While I am not where I want to be yet, I know I will get there in the end and it’s all about the stepping stones we learned about in the course. Sometimes you get knocked back and sometimes you have to take the long way around, sometimes you have to pass left to score right: but we will get there if we believe in ourselves and stay positive. I couldn’t be any more thankful for this course and I would encourage everyone to try it.”