Stephanie Newton was left in the lurch when she arrived for class early last year, only to be told her school was closed.
Ms Newton was studying remedial massage at Sage Institute, which abruptly closed its doors last year, leaving hundreds of students with unfinished courses.
“It was really shocking, we knew something was going on for a little while, but there was no communication,” Ms Newton said.
“We all just arrived for class one morning and were told the institution was closed.”
Following the closure, Victoria University Polytechnic reached out to the students and offered to help them finish their courses.
The university has enrolled 120 former Sage students since its closure. Ms Newton is one of those students and has since completed her course.
“I sacrificed a lot of time, money and effort during my 12 months at Sage, so I was determined to finish the course,” she said.
“Being able to go to VU was a real eye-opener. The facilities were incredible and a few of the teachers I had at Sage were even brought across.”
Ms Newton said she was impressed with how accommodating the university was.
“One of the selling points with Sage was that they offered evening classes and Saturday clinic hours, which VU was able to offer us making the move across,” she said.
Many of the students who came across to VU with Ms Newton are finishing their courses and have an eye on the next step of their careers.
“I currently work in the dance and production industry with Transit Dance,” Ms Newton said.
“I’d really like to put my skills to use within the company.”
