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Limited options
I was fifteen when I left school, because it was expected I would leave and get a job. I didn't feel school had anything more to offer me.
I felt I was lacking skills and my options were not very good; I could be a cleaner or work in a factory, but it was mind-numbingly boring and didn't pay well. And as I got older, there was a slow realisation that there was more out there for me. |
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Wider potential
I felt inadequate, that there were huge gaps in my knowledge. I felt I had a brain but I wasn't using it properly. I watched the film Educating Rita and I cried because I could really relate to this bright woman, who is uneducated but feels she has to get out of that life and do something different. |
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I want to learn
I was just past thirty and felt that there must be more out there for me. I wanted to know everything, so I did a GCSE in literature, got an A and thought it was a fluke! I thought they felt sorry for me but it's taken me years to realise it was the because of the work I put in, and as I did well in more exams I became more confident. |
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A good example
It changed the way my children felt about learning and school. We were living in an area of deprivation. Yet my daughter has just got three A levels and will go to the Open University so she can work and study. My son just did his GCSEs - I like to think I had something to do with it, that I have set a good example. |
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Learning for passion
Studying subjects I enjoyed made me feel that I could stick to it. If I'd gone into education just to get a job, I wouldn't have stuck it out. I realised I had to stick to subjects I had a passion for, like literature, humanities, computers and psychology.
I think I will always be a student. Even now, although I have my degree I'm still looking at new courses. I'd like to do an MA and PHD... I want to keep going! |
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I'm hooked
In a lot of ways I'm still that little girl that is missing a lot of knowledge. Although the studying that I have done has filled a lot of gaps, I want to learn more. For example, if I am studying a humanities course and we touch on Plato, I then want to go and find out more about Plato! |
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Get inspired
You have to be a bit selfish to go back to studying. I don't mean turn your whole back on your family. Be brave about it and don't be afraid to get things wrong. I still get things wrong, that's how you learn.
Have fun with it, don't do it because you want to pass an exam, do it because it inspires and excites you. |
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