orana college

I can't believe it's almost been a year since I started my journey at Orana College and that my time as a student there has just about to come to an end.

This time twelve months ago I was a young, shy 20 year old who'd just moved to the big smoke to follow her dreams. I was an aspiring stylist but had no idea how to get my foot in the door of the fashion industry let alone gain the skills to one-day fufil this type of role. Every fashion course I had looked at was either heavily focused on design or strictly running a fashion business, non of which included topics on fashion styling or any other subjects I was interested in. That's when magically (thanks to Google) I came across Orana College. 

"Orana is a private Fashion Business College located in Ultimo, the education hub of Sydney. We offer a part-time accredited Fashion Business Course committed to giving our students practical skills, pathways and connections useful for their future in the fashion industry and beyond"

 The college was a perfect fit for my course requirements and current lifestyle. A part-time course, only requiring you to attend one day a week that allowed me to continue working, had a heavy focus on styling and still presented me with a qualification at the end. I loved the course because it was also only a short term commitment (one year) and it gave me the chance not only to explore my interest in styling but also gave me the opportunity to learn about different career paths and sectors of the industry that I made not have thought about or considered beforehand. But my absolute favourite part about the college was the feeling I got as soon as I stepped through the door. A feeling of certainty, a feeling of happiness and comfort. I straight away knew this college was for me and that it was everything I had been looking for.

Throughout my journey at Orana I have met so many amazing people and have created numerous life experiences that I will never forget. If it wasn't for the opportunities presented to me by Orana I would never of been able to sit front row at a show as Jennifer Hawkins and Nicole Trunfio walked  past. I would never of had the opportunity to assist on photo-shoots and styling for runways shows and I definitely would not have been able to present professional social media accounts that would go on to opens doors for future networking and exciting opportunities including attending my first ever show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia and being an editorial contributor for New York based online magazine Electrify Mag.

In just one year I've managed to transform from a shy, uncertain girl with big dreams and aspirations into a confident, self assured and happy young woman who is chasing those dreams and ticking off goals one day at a time. Attending the college gave me the chance to explore my passion for photography, visual merchandising and writing all in one and allowed me to realise that I actually don't want to be a stylist but I want to be an all round fashion creative and someone that dabbles in it all. I've learnt that if having a balance in a number of different fields is what I need to do to be happy then thats ok and that I can do whatever I want to do as long as it makes me feel good.

Without the guidence and support of my Orana College teachers, mentors and friends in the past year I would never of been exposed to such amazing opportunities or be as happy, confident and content with my life as I am right now. I'm headed in the most amazing direction to keep chasing my dreams and I can't wait to continue the relationships I've made and find out what the future holds.

For more information on Orana College, what they are all about and the amazing experiences they have to offer head to www.oranacollege.com.au/