Animal Management Course Helps Moxxie Pursue Her Passion

Student Moxxie McCormick (20), from Bangor, is following her passion of helping animals through studying at SERC. 

Moxxie completed her A-Levels at Regent House Grammar School in Newtownards, before enrolling at SERC on the Pearson BTEC HNC in Animal Management. Moxxie chose SERC due to the short travel distance and also because several of her friends who had completed courses at SERC recommended the college.    

Moxxie comments, “My favourite part of my course is being able to work with the animals. The animal house in SERC Bangor Campus has a wide range of animals to work with, including guinea pigs, mice, quail, geckos, bearded dragons, salamanders, corn snakes, spiders, mantises, fish and axolotls. We can perform health checks on the animals as well as feed them. I think courses that are more practical suit my style of learning, so working with the animals is definitely the most enjoyable part of the course for me. 

“I really enjoyed the psychology and behaviour unit of the course as well, which covers the learning processes of animals, how to measure their intelligence, and their history of domestication. You also learn a lot about animal anatomy, evolution, health, and how to take care of different animals, especially exotic animals that aren’t native to our environment.” 

On what she hopes to do after the course, Moxxie comments, “Long-term, I’d like to do something with aquatics – either working in an aquarium or going out into the ocean to do research and preservation work there. There’s a lot of pathways available to me at the moment so I’m considering my next steps.  I don’t think university is for me but it's great to know the HND in Animal Management at SERC is an option after my current course.” 

Moxxie concludes, “To anyone thinking of doing this course, I would say go for it! It can seem daunting at first, but SERC is far more relaxed than school, which makes for a much more comfortable learning environment, and the tutors are always there to help you. Aside from the studying aspect, there’s a wide range of extra-curricular activities too, such as Students’ Union clubs. Overall, I’d definitely recommend SERC.”