AFTER 11 years in the jewellery industry, Kelly Tapa was looking for something new.

Taking time off to have her second child proved the perfect opportunity for Kelly to discover a passion for graphic design.

Kelly started designing invitations for weddings and birthday parties for friends and family from home.

Deciding graphic design could be the perfect career change, Kelly enrolled in CQUniversity's STEPS program to bridge a study gap before taking on a degree.

CQUniversity's Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) is a free, Centrelink-approved program designed to help students get the skills, knowledge and confidence to tackle a degree.

Kelly finished the course last year and is now part-way through a Bachelor of Digital Media.

Although for now she's just focused on graduating, Kelly's dream is to one day start her own business.

Kelly said the STEPS program provided a strong foundation for her degree.

She said this included practical advice about things like essay writing and technology which had evolved in the years since Kelly was in high school.

"Without STEPS I probably wouldn't have made it to university," she said. "It was a lot to juggle, but once I started I met so many other people from similar backgrounds."

One of the most surprising aspects of the program for Kelly was the amount of support she received.

"I was coming into STEPS thinking 'I'm really going to have to do a lot of this on my own'," Kelly said.

"But there is just so much support out there.

"There really isn't any reason why anyone from different backgrounds ... can't do it. Everything's sort of taken care of, you've just got to put the effort in and do the work."

STEPS

1100 students in the program with CQUniversity, across Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Gladstone, Brisbane, Noosa, Sydney and by distance education