farmyard,

grassy,

floral,

herbaceous…

there are some characteristics of certain

wines that don't always sound

that appealing, but when you put your

nose in the glass you

can actually "Ooh, yeah,

I can kind of see what that means."

I've always had a strong interest in

wine because you're always learning

about new wines, new, new areas

that they come from.

I work in wine retail

and I've done that for the past 17 years.

Wine can be quite a confusing

or intimidating thing

for some people,

so I just like to,

to try and break down the

pretence a bit.

I enjoy building up a

relationship with customers.

On the days

that I'm off work

they are – my purely devoted to my study days.

I chose distance

learning because it

obviously gave me the

flexibility to work and study at the same time.

I have an office in the garden

where I can study

so I'm completely separate from

the house, so

there's no distractions there.

The types of assessment I've had

to do have varied from –

I'd say mainly written assignments,

but there have also been

a few oral recordings to do

along the way as well.

I think the main

benefit of doing a written assignment

is to be able to consolidate

what you've been learning

over the past unit

that that assignment's testing.

You have to get over 40 per cent

to pass.

One assignment I was really worried

about was a recent one

where I, I doubted

the knowledge that I had acquired

through that unit.

I thought I might just scrape a

grade two, but I ended up

getting a grade one, it was one of those

– I got it back, I think

"How did that happen?" you know.

The best tip for assignments

really is to start as soon as possible,

it really is and

to be well prepared, you know,

prepare yourself for doing it and

allow yourself plenty of time.

I've had a couple of exams

over the course of the past few years.

Exam stress

for me has always been a problem:

I always think I'm never

going to remember anything,

but once I'm in there, after

10 or 15 minutes

I find my focus and generally get on with it.

In terms of being prepared for exams,

it's setting a realistic revision timetable

in advance.

My next assignment is my final assignment

for the course I'm doing.

Ideally I'd like to get a grade one

but if I get a grade two –

that's super.

Between sort of bouts of study, or

at the end of the day, I try

and go for a wee walk locally.

I'm a bit of an amateur birdwatcher

and I quite like going

out to see what I can spot.

My wife was a distance learning student

to start with, and seeing her

achieve made me

believe that

"Yes, I can do this too."

I've had her to

support me along the way.

I think support

is really important when you're

doing a distance learning course.

I've gained a real sense of achievement

on my course

and I'm really looking forward to

the opportunities that it will give me

in the future.

Go the distance.