City Lit Student Akin Omobitan
When Akin came to City Lit, he was looking for a career change-up. He thrived on the Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling: integrative pathway, absorbing and channelling the energy of his tutors and peers around him. Since gaining his qualification, Akin has gone on to set up his own private counselling practice.
Video: Akin talks about studying counselling at City Lit
Why did you choose City Lit?
I chose to study counselling here at City Lit, as I was trying to re-direct my career. I guess bigger than my career, my life really. Time had opened, and I was thinking on how to best to use it, and my career was one of the areas where I felt I plateaued, and it was time to do something different with my life. I did some research in things I was interested in, and I found myself here at City Lit studying counselling.
Did you consider other learning providers?
When I was looking for somewhere to study, I was unaware of how it works. There’s more than one route so there was quite a lot to choose from. For me it came down to location, costs, duration, so there were quite a few factors. In terms of what suited me, as someone who’d grown up in London and wanted to have an experience that I felt would be diverse and reflective of me, City Lit ticked a lot of boxes.
Tell us a bit about your time at the course
I was very impressed with the support I got from the tutors. Doing a counselling course at City Lit, there was more than one type of tutoring acquired, because there were lots of different elements to the course. We had a regular tutor who we were mostly in touch with, but we also engaged with lots of different tutors. At each stage there was a lot of support, and there was a lot of interest. It was very exciting to work with people who were also working in the field that I am studying. I was able to gain a lot of insight from them in terms of what life could look like after completing the course. I found it very valuable to be tutored here but also to be able to tap into the life and career experiences that those tutors have.
What skills did you develop during the counselling course?
One of the things I am happy with, in terms of having completed my studies, is that the skills that I have learnt are very practical in terms of the line of work that I want to go into. One of the things I discovered is that with counselling, perhaps unlike many other courses, the skills are very interpersonal. I’ve found myself using them quite often, but also sometimes trying to stop using them. For example, when I am hanging out with friends or talking to family – at times trying to remind myself that I am just a person with them.
What I enjoy most about studying at City Lit, is that unlike many other counselling places, there is a lot on offer here at City Lit. I had so many conversations with individuals who were doing different things with their lives and that range of experiences is very helpful especially studying counselling. It was galvanizing to be reminded that there are other people here at City Lit who want to do things, whether it be for career or hobbies, and shake their lives up, and perhaps bring about some change.
What advice would you give someone who might be interested in studying a longer course at City Lit?
The advice I would give is that the timing may not seem right when it comes to studying for a longer period of time but try not to let that hold you back. There are so many things, which once you commit to something, you suddenly start moving your life around, to make it work. My weekends changed entirely, there was a lot of time spent in the library. With each week that passed, I was getting closer and closer to my goal. If I would have waited for the right time, I'd probably still be waiting now really, because a lot of life has happened in three years. I am on the other side now, and it is behind me, and it feels really great that I jumped in and got started. So, if there’s a concern about the timing being right, my advice is to simply make the timing right.
Tell us a bit about life after City Lit?
When I graduated from university, in my early twenties, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. So having qualified now from City Lit, a little bit later in life, I have set up a private practice in counselling and I am also looking for more work that is more in line with what I have studied.
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