Enterprising SERC Student Launches Second Book

Aimee Clint, a Business Studies Student at SERC’s Bangor Campus, and friend Saan Lee, have launched the second book inspired by personal experiences of growing up with a brother with autism.

Following on from the successful No Two Stars are the Same, A Day In Town, was launch this week at a glittering event hosted by Mike Nesbitt MLA in Parliament Buildings. Aimee, who is currently studying business at South Eastern Regional College, set up Books by Stellas after taking part in an enterprise club.

She said, "When I stared SERC last September, I was delighted to learn that they had an enterprise club.  I signed up and got great support from Dr John Terry and Terence Brannigan, chairman of Tourism NI and SERC's entrepreneur in residence.”

Since then, it has been a whirlwind for the young woman from Ballywalter who scooped a £10,000 angel investment in a European wide TranferWise 20Under20 competition to boost the social enterprise.

She is full of ideas to develop new tools to further increase autism awareness.  In the new book, every ‘star’ reacts differently to situations and challenges. Readers follow the stars through their trip to town, from travelling on public transport, going to an appointment at the doctors and being in a cafe; putting themselves in the shoes of others; understanding their daily hurdles and most importantly, how everyone can help.

From the start Aimee has had a 'buy one, give one' approach to the book so that for every copy sold, she donates a copy to a primary school here and further afield. Currently one in 30 local children has a diagnosis of autism - that's one in every classroom of 30 children.

Dr Michael Malone, SERC Director of Curriculum and Information Services said, “We are delighted for Aimee’s success.   At SERC, we place great value on entrepreneurship amongst the students and from day one, regardless of what course they study, they are immersed in project-based learning (PBL), working in teams to find solutions to real life scenarios that they will come across in the world of work.   We find that this way of learning helps develop those soft skills, such as communication, team work and organisations skills, that are in demand by employers.   It means that our students, such as Aimee, are ready to hit the world of work running, before they even walk out the door.”

Aimee's book can be purchased at Booksbystellas.com. For more info on course at SERC visit www.serc.ac.uk or call 0345 600 7555