One of the most contented souls that I ever met was back in the days when I worked at a local theatre, writes education commenter John Nice, of Easton and Otley College.

The girl in question was helping promote and produce a play based on the life of Quentin Crisp that was touring the world.

Contented happiness doesn’t really do the vibes that were emanating from her soul justice – she was beyond that and a little bit more.

Through my time at the college, you often get to meet many other satisfied souls.

For example, the beaming faces of happiness when attending our annual graduation ceremonies is something to behold.

As students receive public congratulations and boldly stride across the stage having picked up their degrees, the eye popping emotional pride in the faces of students reflecting on what they have achieved is an annual highlight of my working year.

Pride is also the adjective I would use to describe the atmosphere at our annual prize day ceremonies.

During these occasions, every student who has completed a course gets to collect a certificate of completion as a result of their efforts.

So after the thrills of the Suffolk Show and the enjoyment of two family fun days in both Suffolk and Norfolk – our students will soon be taking centre stage during five ceremonies at the end of this week and the start of next.

Great stories always occur during the ceremony relating to student achievement.

In addition to certificates for everyone, a number of special prizes are always handed out for outstanding achievement and exceptional performance.

Last year outstanding efforts that were recognised related to a champion swimmer who represented his country and a group of farming students who won a national award (Cereals Challenge).

At our prize days, you also get to have the simple joy of meeting students studying on courses that they love that will hopefully lead to their dream career.

People who will be there will include a young tree surgeon. He travels around four hours a day in an effort to become a tree surgeon and a committed and award winning garden designer whose creativity and commitment shine brightly when you meet her. The one thing that unites these two and many others who study with us is the fact that they have, or are on the road to being a contented soul.

I’ll tell you about the other contented souls at our prize days next time – you could always become one of them in September. Visit our website for more information.