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Wednesday, 30 August 2023

A lifestyle change that prompted new studies in natural health

diploma future of wellness online study

Moving to Far North Queensland, Ashleigh Hardiman has discovered a holistic lifestyle she knew she wanted but couldn’t achieve in a big city. Now she’s loving being a stay-at-home mum studying online and is inspired to get her foot in the door of the natural health industry.

“I come from a busy, customer-service background, and I knew I could get back into that type of work and do well, but moving to the country was a chance to change direction,” Ashleigh said. “I love food, cooking and the human body, so I always wanted to study nutrition.

“Here, I’m surrounded by people living a more natural lifestyle, and they encouraged me to follow my passion. I feel encouraged to try it and see where it leads.”

After researching online, Ashleigh found Endeavour’s short courses. With a young family to care for but keen to explore natural health study, Ashleigh chose four online short courses to begin.

“I picked subjects that appealed to me and to learn as much as possible about living a natural and healthy lifestyle. I started with the Eco-living short course, and it was amazing. I loved learning about the small changes you can make to improve your family’s health.”

Ashleigh enjoyed the Endeavour short course content so much that midway through her second short course, Gut Health and the Microbiome, she decided to enrol in a Diploma of Health Science.

“I know I’ve got 12 months to finish the short courses, so I’m focused on my diploma and have just passed my first subjects, which is encouraging,” Ashleigh said. “The Endeavour lecturers have been great and provided incredible feedback, which I will use for the next assessment. They gave me great advice because I want to learn everything, but that can get overwhelming. Their suggestion was to study in-depth only the subjects that interest me the most.”

Ashleigh said she is still working out how to study and how to be a Mum. “It’s trial and error, but when my baby’s awake, I spend time with him. When he’s asleep during the day, I study.”

While Ashleigh started her studies in nutrition, she’s keeping an open mind. “I’m going to finish the diploma first, and then maybe I’ll use it as credit for further study. For now, my dream is to become a clinical nutritionist with a food side hustle!”

Interested in Natural Health?

Explore our range of Natural Health courses and Short Courses and set the pace towards a happier, healthier you.


Endeavour College of Natural Health

Endeavour College of Natural Health is Australia's largest Higher Education provider of natural medicine courses.

The College is known as the centre of excellence for natural medicine and is respected for its internationally recognised academic teams and high calibre graduates. Endeavour offers higher education Diplomas in Health Science and Bachelor of Health Science degrees in Naturopathy, Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine, Acupuncture Therapies and Chinese Medicine.

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