Victoria McCormack, graduate from the BA (Hons) Integrated Working with Children and Families Top up degree, reflects on her higher education journey as a mature student at the University of Worcester.
“As I sit and reflect on my graduate journey, I still find it hard to believe that a few months off turning 50 I have achieved a BA (Hons) in Integrated Working with Children and Families.
I would consider myself a late bloomer in discovering what I wanted to achieve in my professional life and personal life. Having four children and dedicating my time and energy to raising them, I felt a bit lost and reached a crossroad in my life when my youngest child started school.
I entered my career into the Early Years purely by fluke, covering holidays in my local preschool on a temporary basis. However, I quickly realised that this was the career for me, and I found myself as an apprentice in my late thirties. This opened up a whole new world of learning that I thought had been lost to me and showed me what I was capable of achieving. It was after the completion of my Level 3 in Early years that academic learning at a degree level was mentioned and my life in academia began.
It would be fair to say that I was incredibly nervous when I started, back in 2019 at the University of Worcester to begin my Foundation Degree in Early Years. There I was a middle-aged mum of 4, who had not sat in a classroom since the stone age, and I wondered what I was doing there. However, it turned out be the best three years of my life. Don’t get me wrong, it was hard juggling full-time work, a family and studying, but the sense of achievement when I passed my Foundation Degree in Early Years was immense. Therefore, it was not a hard decision to continue on and study for my BA (Hons) in Integrated Working with Children and Families.
The support I received from tutors and staff was second to none as I navigated my way through my dissertation and no question was too big or too small. The friends I made throughout my graduate journey are now friends for life and I am truly grateful to them.
Studying at this level has expanded my knowledge in my working life and for the children I work with, but more importantly it has given me a great sense of pride and achievement in my personal life. It has provided me with a newfound confidence and belief in myself that had been lacking and I hope it encourages others, who may read this to follow their dreams.”
For more information about the courses mentioned in this post, please visit:
FdA Early Years: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/early-years-0-8-foundation-degree-flexible-distributed-learning-pathway
BA(Hons) Integrated Working with Children and Families: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/integrated-working-with-children-families-ba-hons-top-up-degree