Natalia Albokrinova

I arrived in the UK on the Home for Ukraine Scheme in May 2022 after the war began in Ukraine. I came to England with one suitcase, leaving my past life in the ruins of the war, knowing only one hundred words in English, such as hello, thank you, coffee, tea, how are you. After arriving in the UK, I had to start building from scratch. For me this meant socialising and embracing the culture and customs of the country.

In Ukraine, I worked as an administrator, secretary, office manager, accountant and knew I wanted to work in similar roles here; however, with my current level of English finding a job would take some time, so I started volunteering. Eventually Aston Hearing (the hearing aids retailer) offered me a job as Accounts Assistant, for which I will always be grateful. I’ve met some amazing people there who will always stay in my heart.

Learning English would be the start of moving forward in my new life so I began looking for English courses. My friend recommended WAES, because they had lessons on Saturdays. It was the the opportunity to work during the week and learn English on Saturdays that was appealing to me so I enrolled on to the ESOL course. A year later, I passed the assessment and registered for the AAT accounting course because I was really keen to develop in this field.

I have been a student at WAES since September 2022. I have really enjoyed the classes here, as they are highly informative and the teachers are professional. Always going the extra mile to explain the topic in the best way possible with lots practice and support in class to better our understanding. I’ve made friends who I meet regularly too.

My greatest achievement has been learning English from scratch in the 2 years I’ve been in UK, I have passed all my exams and finished the AAT Level 2 Course and i’ m continuing onto Level 3. I was also nominated for a student award by my English teach to which I hold great pride. As part of my learning i completed an internship with Westminster City Council.

If you have a dream – go for the dream, develop, learn, and do not give up! I left my life in the past. I left friends, family, home and a familiar life because of the war and I am starting to live from the beginning in a new country. Many challenges and difficulties had to be faced, however, I am continuing the path to success. This life expects you to work hard, but hard work pays off. If you work hard – you will see the result; often times I think it takes a little bit of patience and persistence.