"There's always time; it's never too late"

There's always time; it's never too late

Heather Settle aspired to be a sports photographer due to her love of sport and photography. However, half-way through University, Heather’s life changed and so did her career direction. Read how an apprenticeship at Specsavers has got Heather back on track for a satisfying and rewarding career.

"At school, I studied photography, PE, and media which I really enjoyed. Once I’d completed my education, I thought I should go to university as my friends were all going to uni too. So, I applied to a university to study photography and was accepted. I moved away from home and lived local to the University. At first it was fine but after a while, I felt unhappy. The subject itself wasn’t what I thought it would be – it was a lot of theory studies and no actual hands-on photography. Not wanting to give up on my education, I requested a subject change to sports (as I’m a rugby player already and really enjoy getting stuck in). For some reason, I still didn’t get on well with it and found study time difficult. I was in a quandary – why were my friends getting on so well at uni and I wasn’t?

Then, my life took a bit of a turn when I suddenly became ill. This caused me to then have to drop out of uni on medical grounds, so that decision was taken away from me. When I started to get better, the thought of going back to uni filled me with dread. I’d already been back home for a while whilst I was recovering, so I thought I’d explore my options. This is when I saw an Apprentice Optical Assistant being advertised at my local Specsavers. I’d never have considered an apprenticeship before as I didn’t know anyone who had done one, so I didn’t really know what to expect. But it sounded really interesting, and the advert alluded to the possibility of having a rewarding clinical or retail career which piqued my interest.

My illness had unfortunately affected my eyesight, which then made me more aware of and interested in eye health. So, when I saw the apprenticeship opportunity where I could learn more about eye care, it really resonated with me. I also love learning and doing things at the same time – I’m quite hands-on like that. I was so excited to be successful for the opportunity – and it’s certainly exceeded my expectations. I get 1-1 coaching with my apprenticeship coach, ample study time, interesting theory work as well as practical experience, and it’s opened the doors so many wonderful career opportunities.

I’ve completed my mock exam and am finishing off the last few subjects before booking in my end point assessment. Specsavers has supported me all the way through my apprenticeship and are happy with me completing it early as I feel ready. Once I’ve completed it, I’ll become an Optical Assistant. What’s next for me? I’ll look to do a qualification to become a Dispensing Optician – that’s my ultimate career goal, for now. Who knows, further down the line I might continue my studies while working at Specsavers to become a qualified optometrist. I know my store partner is fully supportive of my goals and wants to see me succeed.

Even though my career path is very different to what I thought it would look like, I’m excited to see what the future holds for me. I’m grateful for the apprenticeship opportunity to enable me to retrain and learn new skills to lead me down a different path. If you’re in a similar situation, or maybe you want to change your career path later on in life, then an apprenticeship is an excellent way to do it. There’s always time, it’s never too late".