Would she have chosen to study the same things had she gone to a traditional university at 18? Probably not. Did she need a bit of life experience to get her on track? Definitely.
Would she have chosen to study the same things had she gone to a traditional university at 18? Probably not. Did she need a bit of life experience to get her on track? Definitely. Student blogger Carrie Walton on how proud she is of her "mature student" tag...
Pride comes before a fall doesn’t it, or at least that’s what they say. And selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race, or so they say. If these two old adages are indeed true then I’m destined to be a cursed and crippled girl, with no thanks due to the OU I can tell you!
The reason being that I love dropping my studies into conversation. I love saying things like “oh yeah, the weather’s meant to be great this weekend, I’ll not be seeing any of it though, I’ve got studying to do” in the vain hope that someone will reply “oh, what are you studying?” so that I can go into an in-depth description of my various studies and involvements in the even vainer hope that they’re somehow impressed by my bid to better myself (when in reality they’re probably bored to tears!).
Even better is when my mother tells me of how she’s been boasting to her friends about how proud she is of me (acceptance and praise from my parents is always amazing!), and my dad following my blog and even joining Platform JUST so he can comment on my posts. Bless him.
Pfft. Why should I care though?! Why should I feel the need to tell people about my drowning in a sea of text books and committee papers at various times of the year? Well, I suppose it’s because for once in my life I feel a real sense of pride about what I’m doing and obviously I want to boast about it a bit. I’m sure I’m not the only OU student who has a secret selfish pride in what they’re doing, I’d certainly hope that there are plenty of other people out there who enjoy telling of their studies and judging by the number of other student blogs I’ve come across since beginning my own I can safely assume I’m not alone in the overtly-proud stakes.
I’d always wanted to go to university and when I was at school for myself and a bunch of friends it was all we talked about; being a student, going to loads of gigs and dossing about for a couple of years. Of course I never got to go. I made a real mess of my first year in sixth form and lost all interest so one day I just walked out of school (at the deputy head’s recommendation, shamefully) but that niggling desire to go to uni never left me.
Beginning my studies later than I intended has given me the chance to settle into adulthood nicely. When all of my old friends were starting their second year, I was buying a house and reading “how to do your house up on the cheap” but dealing with mortgages and bills and weekly food budgets and boilers breaking down helped me grow up which meant that by the time I started my OU course I had taking care of the rest of my life down to a fine art. And the extra years gave me the opportunity to do some reading, watch some documentaries, live some life; all of which helped me figure out what it was I truly enjoyed and WANTED to study.
If I’d gone to uni straight from school I probably would’ve chosen English Language or something, whereas by the time I enrolled I realised my interests lay more in the realms of social science and philosophy, but in 1997 I certainly wouldn’t have given you that answer.
I’m immensely proud to call myself a mature student. I’ll probably be calling myself one for a good while yet and to be honest, I think I’ll really miss it come the day I have to rescind that tag. On the flip side, the day I do have to rescind the tag ‘mature student’ is with any luck the day I get to call myself ‘Doctor Walton’ instead, which is ultimately WAY more boastable.
Ugh. I’m so self-centred :oP
Comments
Here's an account from other mature students at the Open Uni where they share their experiences and frustrations as mature students (albeit animations).
I am the same, I did not know what I wanted to study and had no particular academic interest at a teenager, going to university was a mistake.
How did you get a job to get a mortgage soon after dropping out of college?!
Thanks for the question Jamster.
I left school in about June 1997, applied for a million and one jobs and had no joy so ended up working as a Christmas temp at Virgin Megastore. Left there in January 1998 and worked as an office temp for a couple of months until I finally managed to get a job as an office junior in the accounts department at the local rag in April 1998, a month before my 18th birthday. Started dating someone in the August, and the following August we bought a house together, luckily this was before the housing boom and we got the house for an absolute song so our wages combined were plenty to cover the mortgage. We split up 2 years later and I was left with a house I could barely afford and unsecured debts which totalled a third of the value of the mortgage! To this day I don't know how I managed to keep the house!
With the benefit of 20:20 hindsight buying the house was a real knee-jerk thing, we lived 15 miles apart and neither of us could drive so it was a young and foolish decision but I suppose it's worked out alright in the end. My determination to NOT move back in with my parents meant I battled on and pushed through the worst of it.
Nah, you're not self centred at all, you actually portray the feelings of many of us ;-)
I come from a similar experience, and I totally agree on how your ideas and taste on academic choices can vary.
Developing a career and being able to study in the mean time is a demanding but rewarding experience, and no matter if it's for professional or personal reasons, it's going to be a special one.
So yes, I'm another proud 'mature student' ;-)
That's fantastic to hear AlexT, thanks for the comment, it's made my day xx