RORY Hand is on a journey – and you may soon be able to read about it after his exam success.
For the Ashton Sixth Form College student has his eyes on becoming a sports journalist.
The teenager behind the popular My Journey on the Autism Pathway blog scored a D*, D, D in his BTec in applied science at the Darnton Road establishment.
Now he is looking to apply that in press boxes in future as he is going on to study sports journalism at Salford University.
However, he is already making a difference with his online page, as the feedback shows.
Rory, who comes from Ashton and was a pupil at Droylsden Academy, said: “I started the page a few years ago, but this year it’s definitely taken a hit, in a good way.
“I started with about 300 followers, now I’m at almost 1,000. I’m nearly there, but I’ve been working really hard.
“I’m really enjoying it. It just tells the story of my life.
“I’ve been doing posts about Ashton, explaining my autism and things. I’ve got anxiety and depression that I got diagnosed with last year.
“But I feel like I’ve helped a lot of people, and I’m really enjoying doing it.
“And reading comments about how what I’ve done has helped people has really helped me.
“If someone says that it’s helped them, then I feel really happy knowing that my experiences have done that.”
Rory’s life at Ashton Sixth Form College was not exactly plain sailing, After beginning A-Level courses, it was decided after a year that he would enrol on the two-year BTec.
Now he has completed that with distinction, he praised staff there while also telling how he came to decide on his desired career path.
The 19-year-old added: “Once I started the course, I had to restart the first year because I started off doing three A-levels.
“But the exams were a big problem. There was, like, loads of exams. I had to cut the three A-levels and then start doing applied science.
“Then I realised I love football, I love talking about sport, I love writing about sport, so I thought, ‘Why not do something that I’m interested in?’
“I have my interest in something that I actually want to do and something that I’m going to enjoy.
“Hopefully I can get into journalism on the radio, with a newspaper, or even as a commentator.
“And because of me struggling with exams, the inclusive learning department at Ashton Sixth Form has definitely helped me prepare more, giving me extra time or putting me into a separate room so I can focus well on them.
“Otherwise, I’d get really distracted and I wouldn’t have been able to perform well. So from that perspective, the college has helped me a lot.
“They’ve helped me go on to a new course and supported me really well throughout those two years.”