Sue Hill, Access to HE (Health and Social Care), Bridgwater College 2009-2010

Rod Coleman Memorial Bursary 2010 Runner-Up

“When I applied for my Access course I was 39 years old and working full time as an office manager for a local manufacturing company. I had always worked in retail or office work but increasingly felt there was something else I should be doing. I left school at 16 having taken a couple of exams but at that age school definitely wasn't for me.

My husband Mike is a HGV driver so his work involves early starts and long hours. My son Charlie was 11 years old at that time and had just started at senior school.

Charlie had been born with a cleft lip and palate so had operations to correct this at 12 weeks and 26 weeks and through the course of his childhood he has had many medical appointments, treatments and several other operations. In addition my husband and I cared full time for my father in law, who despite having Alzheimer's was successfully managing to continue living in his own home.

A chance meeting with a newly qualified nurse introduced me to the option of studying on an Access course in order to take the first steps back into education, and as a pathway for a university application (my parents thought this was hysterical as they had tried to make me go to school for years and now here I was voluntarily going back into education!) Financially, taking 4 years off wasn't an option so I knew no matter what I would have to continue to work whilst studying. Fortunately I had been in my job for a number of years and even though I told my boss I was leaving he agreed to let me work flexible hours whilst I took the Access course. So for the year of study I also held down a full time job.

The course started in September 2009 and I found myself in a whole new world, one that I loved. I thrive on being busy and I certainly was, not just with working, studying and family but I had met a new group of friends all of whom had the same commitment to make the most of the advantages the Access course offered.

Unfortunately in Oct 2009 my father in law suffered a fall at home and was admitted to hospital. After some medical tests it was confirmed he was suffering from the final stages of lung cancer, despite this he was allowed to go home until his symptoms worsened. On Christmas Eve he had another fall and was again admitted to hospital, this time it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his brain. My husband and I spent the Christmas period looking for a suitable nursing home to care for him and he was discharged from hospital in the New Year. Dad died on 31st January. Sian Brown, my Access Co-ordinator, was fantastic and supported me throughout this very difficult time. Later in the year Charlie (now 13 years old) had another operation scheduled and again I had to speak to Sian as I would not be able to attend some of my classes. As you would expect, again she was brilliant and I was able to stay with Charlie whilst he recovered.

So despite a family, a full time job, the heartbreak of losing dad and my son having a traumatic operation, I didn't miss a single assignment, although I was granted an extension for one piece of work due in February. The Access course allowed me to keep a record of the credits I was accruing and I was proud to find that I had achieved 57 credits at level three and 51 of these were at distinction level!!!

If ever there was proof that I was no longer that 16 year old school-hating girl, here I was with a Level three qualification and a place at university to study for a degree in children's nursing. In September 2010 I joined my cohort at the University of West of England (UWE) as a 41 year old student nurse. My future is in sight thanks to the opportunities that exist following my successful completion of Access to Nursing”.

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