Chelsea Tihanyi – Succeeding in the Face of Anxiety

Chapter 1: Anxiety, anger and school

Anxiety is a world-wide mental health issue that affects millions of people across the globe. Anxiety has been shown and proven to negatively affect a person’s attention span and concentration levels.

Throwing someone with anxiety in to a classroom and expecting them, demanding them to concentrate and succeed with the high levels of pressure that our young people face is a sure fire way to alienate a sufferer of anxiety. This alienation leads to anger and an indifference towards schooling and education. We have seen this time and time again as we struggle to keep up with the changes that our world is going through.

This is what happened with Chelsea.

Chapter 2: Meet Chelsea

Chelsea is a young woman who has faced her fears and has grown, developed and succeeded as a result. Chelsea lost interest in school fairly early on as she was suffering from anxiety and had developed anger issues. It was an easy decision for Chelsea to leave school at a young age, as she wasn’t getting too much out of it as it was not for her, she reckons.

Chelsea was not sure what she was going to do, until a friend of hers told her about Capital Training. Chelsea decided to give it a go and contacted Capital Training to see what it was all about.

As I was sitting at a well-known coffee shop, drinking a frapp and listening to Chelsea tell her story, it was hard for me to match the person that I was gossiping with, to the person that she was describing. The Chelsea I was speaking to was a strong, confident young woman who was doing what she wanted with her life. I did not see anything of the anxious, shy and angry person that was being described to me.  I had to find out what had happened and how she had become the person that she is today.

Chapter 3: Chelsea goes to Capital Training

Chelsea’s start at Capital Training wasn’t exactly the picture of perfection. It was hard and it was daunting. Chelsea found herself as the quiet girl in the corner who wasn’t all that enthused about talking and socializing with anyone else.

Chelsea did however find that she enjoyed the learning structure in her classroom. She enjoyed how the work she was given was modularized and that it was littered with jokes and stories. She found that the content that Capital Training had written specifically for the young people in their classes were engaging and kept her attention.

It wasn’t long before Chelsea developed a respect for her tutor, Michael. She saw the way that Michael went out of his way to help the learners in his class not only pass the work, but grow and develop as people. As time went on, Chelsea found that she was coming out her shell a bit more and excelling in the classroom environment.

Chelsea put this down to the fact that the staff at Capital Training cared about her and the other learners as people and treated them like adults. There is an expectation in the classroom for how you behave and how you hold yourself. This developed a maturity in Chelsea that she has used to succeed in her current pursuits.

Chelsea had grown, matured and succeeded at Capital Training. Her outlook on life and how she approached it had changed dramatically. However, it was almost time for Chelsea to move on from Capital Training, as she was just about to finish her qualification.

It is a scary prospect, moving on to the next stage of life. It can be terrifying and daunting and hugely intimidating. Luckily for Chelsea, Capital Training has a great relationship with Youth Services. Michael put Chelsea in to contact with Jacques from Youth Services, who has also had a large positive impact on Chelsea’s life.

Chapter 4: Jacques from Youth Services

Jacques from Youth Services is a good person. He has worked tirelessly to change the lives of A LOT of young people in Wellington. Chelsea is one of Jacques great success stories and while I was gossiping with Chelsea, eating the whipped cream from the top of my Frapp, he was sitting right next to me drinking a hot chocolate and providing support where he could.

Jacques and the team at Youth Services helped Chelsea to develop her confidence and dedication after she left Capital Training. Chelsea was working hard and was showing an incredible amount of personal strength and growth and was starting to see the rewards of all of her work. She had some qualifications under her belt, she managed to complete a course through Youth Services about confronting fears (which she absolutely crushed and as a result got to meet and have a dinner with then Mayor, the right Honorable Justin Lester.)

Chelsea was ready to take the next step, and she knew just what she wanted to do… she wanted to travel the world.

Chapter 5: School of Tourism

Chelsea is now completing higher education with the School of Tourism and is absolutely loving it. She is learning a lot of great skills and is building the foundations that she needs in a career in the tourism industry. When Chelsea finishes her qualification with the School of Tourism in 2020, she is planning on going travelling and seeing where the world of tourism takes her.

I personally have to admit, that I am quite envious of this plan.

Chelsea’s journey and personal evolution have been huge. She has grown and developed into a confident young woman whose success is only matched by her potential. While she has had some help along the way, Chelsea has put in the hard work and deserves everything good that she has in her life right now.

Chelsea, we are proud of you and wish you the best of luck.

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