Portsmouth teenager vows to become child trauma counsellor after bagging incredible A-level results

Portsmouth College student Shazia Dongola is now off to study psychology and counselling studies at the University of Brighton after scooping an A* in criminology and two As in psychology and politics.

And the 17-year-old from Baffins said she is committed to devoting herself to young people, with ambitions of becoming a child trauma therapist.

Shazia said: ‘I had a lot of trauma in my childhood and I know how kids can really struggle with it. So if I can stop other kids suffering, I would love to be able to do that. I really want to make a difference in the world.’

Shazia’s impressive set of results means she will become the first person in her family to go on to study for a degree, an achievement the young teenager was overwhelmed by.

‘My family are going to be absolutely over the moon with me,’ said the teenager moments after finding out her grades. ‘It’s been such a stressful time with so much anxiety.’

Her results were made all the more impressive as she managed it during the middle of a global pandemic, which has seen her two-year course blighted by difficulties, with lessons heading online and a huge shift in how exams were delivered.

Remarkably, Shazia had never studied in a classroom before, having previously been homeschooled.

The teenager’s grades left her teachers overjoyed. Steve Fitzgerald, Shazia’s politics teacher at Portsmouth said: ‘She came from homeschooling having never been in a classroom before and really excelled. There was a short period of adjustment but that just magnifies how impressive her results were. She has coped so well and has been absolutely brilliant.’

Shazia will be following in the footsteps of her mother, who is also a counsellor.

She said: ‘My mum’s been like my best friend, she’s always been there for me.

‘Counsellors can make a massive difference in children’s lives. Kids need someone who they feel will listen to them and sympathise with them and tell them what to do in the future.

‘A lot of kids really don’t know what to do going forward in their lives and need some guidance and let them know it’s okay to be sad and okay to struggle – but it’s not okay to do it on their own.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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