What are you doing now?
I am a very happily registered nurse working in the A&E Department at Airedale Hospital.
I chose AS Psychology, Art, Science and EPQ in Sixth Form at South Craven, with a view to either become a nurse or join the police.
I was accepted into Bradford University and completed a BA Honours degree in Criminal Justice Studies. It wasn’t the most straightforward education, having two children and getting married during my degree!
I worked as a Home Care Assistant when I turned 18 and throughout my degree, which I loved, and gave me further desire to reach my goals of nursing.
After having my second child I enrolled in an Access to Higher Education course at Craven College, which didn’t come without its challenges. The government announced the bursary would be cut for nursing students and the two-year part-time course became a one-year fast tracked course with one chance of getting into university to study nursing.
In September 2016 I started as a Nursing student at Leeds Beckett University. After taking a year out for my children in 2018, I finally finished my degree and received a BSc with Honours as an Adult Nurse in September 2020. Once again I faced challenges, completing the degree in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic where we were placed on the front line as ‘almost qualified’ nurses!
What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?
Follow what your heart tells you and not what others expect of you. I would also say take the risk, travel, explore and learn.
I love my children and our lives and we are extremely happy, but we had originally planned to travel prior to our first born – we now have plans for half a year out in our mid-40s/50s to do Route 66 and go to India!
What are you most proud of?
Keeping our heads afloat when times were hard and excelling in not one but two degrees, all while being the best mother and wife I could be.
I am also proud of my childhood sweetheart who I married in September 2013 – we’ve been together since Year 8 at South Craven! My husband left after his GCSEs with no real aim and not interested in further education. He’s now a Quality Inspector Supervisor and is hoping to progress into a Site / Building Inspector in the near future.
