1/31/2014

Daughter inspires ambulance driver to go to university

Parents are frequently inspired by their children, but it's not often that they follow in their educational footsteps like I did. My daughter inspired me to go and pursue a degree at university – something I never thought was possible at 52 years old.

I left school at 16 without any qualifications and went straight into full-time employment. Born to working-class parents in London, I started work at a newspaper wholesaler company and subsequently had several driving jobs; from vans, to lorries, to being a London taxi driver.

Throughout this time, I always had an interest in history, particularly social history and how people's lives changed in the course of big historical events such as WWII and the Industrial Revolution.

But I had never really considered pursuing this interest any further. I had a family, bills to pay and a full-time job to consider. For me, my time in education was in the distant past and the thought of returning to it was very alien.

It was only when my daughter, Sarah, started a BA in history and archaeology at Birkbeck, University of London, studying part-time and working full-time as a legal secretary, that my opinion changed. I started to consider a degree as an option for me.

But would I have what it takes? I had been out of education a long time and had never been particularly academic at school.

My daughter's experiences on her course, particularly the support she was given by the university, gave me the confidence to take the leap. The next year I enrolled at to study a part-time history degree, during my daughter's final year.

Now I'm in my third year of a four-year course, and my daughter has been there to help every step of the way. It's been great to have someone to show me the best way to take notes in lectures, and get hints for writing essays from someone who has been through it. She continues to inspire me and has helped make something I thought might be impossible, possible.

That's not to say it's all been smooth sailing. I work for the London Ambulance Service, which means long 12-hour shifts that sometimes run into the evening and clash with lectures. I fit in university around work and I've even tried studying out of the back of an ambulance.

I'd never really written an essay before I started the course and had no idea of the amount of analytical reading I'd need to do. It's been a struggle to get to grips with the work load and go back to basics.

I was completely computer illiterate when I began, too, so I had to learn everything, from using a word document to researching historical texts from an online library catalogue.

The ambulance service team have been fantastic at helping me pursue this ambition, with colleagues swapping shifts with me and even on one occasion having a special period of leave for an important deadline. It's been a comfort to know my bosses are onboard with what I'm doing.

I was lucky enough to be able to fund my own way through my degree, but other part-time students, including mature students, have found they are eligible to access financial support.

In a year I will a have a BA in history and will be over the moon about it. My degree will allow me to apply for roles I would not have been previously eligible for, and while I enjoy my current job, who knows what the future holds?

Instead of driving past landmarks and wondering how they came to be there, I now go and find out more to expand my knowledge. It just goes to show that age really doesn't matter. If you want to do something and put your mind to it then it's possible – even if your children get there first.

(Source: TheGuardian)

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