So you’ve finally made it to uni! All those years away from study doing other
things; taking a break from the trauma of schoolwork, getting your social life
sorted, getting work experience, travelling, raising children, and now here you
are having a complete change of direction.
After the trauma of searching out those ancient
certificates, negotiating the maze of the application process, surviving
writing the dreaded personal statement, you are finally sorted and ready to
start.
Now the angst begins!
If you are anything like I was when I started my undergraduate degree,
you will be still doubting your ability to keep up with all those bright young
students still sparkling from completing their A levels, and enjoying a study free summer. However you
will have spent ages getting everything organised, your timetable and reading
list highlighted, your diary completely filled in to facilitate the successful
juggling of work, child care, shopping , cooking etc. I began my undergraduate degree twelve years
ago as not only a mature student, but an extra mature one. I worried that I would not be able to keep up,
that I would miss all my deadlines, that I would fail miserably and generally
look really stupid – and really old! I
was that student who, when presented with the first course work had to go off
to a tutor to ask what an essay really was and ask how I was going to know what
to write. Then I realised that I was one of those really nerdy ones who have
all their reading done ready for seminars, that get to the library first to
take out all the recommended books, who are always on time for their classes,
and get their work in on time or well before the
deadline, not trusting that computers wont crash just before the deadline!
As I settled into my first term and began to socialise with
my group I discovered that the other students weren’t nearly as scary as I had
thought at first. I naturally gravitated
towards certain students and those were the ones I spent many hours with as we formed
revision study groups, threw ideas around for essays and course work, fretted
over readings being much too hard and sought sympathy as I moaned about my
recalcitrant teenagers and their messy habits.
The adaptation to study is very different for mature students.
Your relationships, social life and household management will be affected and you
may have serious financial considerations to take on board. You’ll find that
you don’t bounce back as easily anymore so all nighter essay writing sessions fuelled
by strong coffee or Red Bull don’t work in the way they may have done a few
years ago.
Once I went on strike and refused to cook when my teenagers
left all the washing up for two days. I
got a takeaway for myself and told them I didn’t really mind what they cooked
for themselves. After accusing me of
being very childish they left the washing up for a further day. I got another takeaway meal and made sure I
told them how delicious it was. They
eventually caved in after three days of eating pasta with cheese, and washed
all the dishes. After cooking a lovely meal together we sat down to discuss a
fair distribution of household chores. The next three years were not entirely
plain sailing as we battled over computer access, they complained about their
distracted grumpy mother as she tried to concentrate on reading a paper while
not burning the fish fingers, I refused to wash any clothing not placed in the
washing basket meaning that on more than a few occasions they went to school
looking decidedly crumpled and with odd socks! However we also became very
close as we agonised over essays together and helped each other survive the
panic of looming deadlines.
However, it was all worth it. My children are now grown up and they often
tell me how my efforts to study and work hard have helped to inspire them to
work hard to achieve their goals. I think one of the most important survival
tools for the mature student is to remember your sense of humour. If you can find the ludicrous in a seemingly
awful scenario, it can become a valuable tool to diffuse all that mature
student angst and help you to really enjoy that journey of discovery ahead of
you. Throwing a full size toddler
tantrum on the floor in rebellion against my grumpy teenagers was far more
effective in getting a point across than yelling at them as they collapsed into
giggles at the sight of their mum thrashing around on the floor pounding her
fists and stamping her feet!
As a midwife I had worked in situations where my decisions
could make the difference between life and death. At uni, whenever I began lapsing too
seriously into mature student angst, my midwife friends would remind me that it
was only an essay and no one was going to die so there was no point in losing sleep
over it, just carefully plan so that there was enough time to submit work
comfortably (making a personal earlier deadline worked well for me) then sit
back and forget about it.
It is always better to pre-empt a situation rather than
having to react. You can monitor your
progress and if you are slipping, don’t suffer in silence. Ask for help while there is still time;
depending on what your problem is, there is
your personal tutor, course leader, study skills mentors, or library
staff. They can pretty much guarantee that whatever your personal challenge is,
they have seen one pretty similar. Don’t suffer in silence – there is
absolutely no need to, and the only person who will lose out will be you.
