The Life and Times of a Mature Student

On the cusp of completing my physiotherapy degree with 11 weeks of practice placement remaining, I decided to write my experience as a mature student. In a nutshell, epic.

September 2006: “Physiotherapy? that’s a lot of points” retorted my English teacher as she judged our 17-year-old career ambitions one by one. In Ireland, physiotherapy required basically 6 x A+ grades from English, Irish, Business Studies, LCVP, French, Maths, Biology and Chemistry. The latter 3 were my favourite subjects and my top grades. Ironically if I lived in the UK, I would have been accepted to physiotherapy there and then! Not so simple in Ireland so I took a BSc in Sports Science in Dublin to leave an open door to physiotherapy in the future.

Fast forward to 2015 after a 4-year full time career in the UK, a 3 year relationship and a rekindled ambition to become a physiotherapist, I made a New Year’s resolution and stuck to it! I applied to Brunel University London at the tender age of 25! I was accepted.

September 2015, I upped sticks from Bournemouth with a ‘man and a van’ and drove myself and my life’s possessions to the top floor of the cheapest student accommodation available. A fresh start. I was so lucky to live with lovely flatmates with whom we all embraced the ‘fresher experience’ and luckily a quiet flat so I never missed a night of sleep. Yep I sound so old!

The transition from full time work to full time education

I settled into the course and embraced the huge volume of study in first year. Studying has never been a problem for me and it wasn’t a problem for me this time around either. To help me focus I decided to halt a part time job until I was over the worst of the studying. That decision lasted 3 weeks haha. The studying only got more intense anyway! I was experiencing a real sense of inadequacy as I wasn’t earning a significant monthly income and I compared myself to my full time working friends. The first job I earned absolute pennies but I got to see the rugby world cup games and famous sports people. Even just telling my family “I’m just back from work”, as a 26-year-old, made me feel proud and adequate again. The simple things in life.

How may part time jobs can you do at once?

The answer is 6.

• Bar staff/ waitress at the Rugby World Cup 2015 and wedding receptions

• Bar staff/ waitress in the student’s union bar/nightclub

• Physiotherapy assistant at a private hospital

• Physiotherapy assistant at one of my placement hospitals

• Physiotherapy student ambassador at open days and interview days

• Sports massage therapist

These jobs allowed me to keep my less than desirable bank account afloat. More importantly, they allowed me to remain in the working world of the physio profession. The flexibility of each role allowed me to plan rotas around studying, training and socialising. Time management and organisation skills put to the test. I am the ultimate plate spinner!

Free time bliss

Although the above may make you think that I had zero time to chill, I did. I could enjoy free time to swim, bike, run, volunteer, drink, eat out and be merry and generally get stuck in to life. I achieved my best running achievements to date completing 2 marathons, a 5km win and half marathon wins (x2) and a flipping half Ironman! Yes, this is my idea of chilling!! I am very grateful that time allowed me to achieve these milestones at a high-quality level. I appreciate the fact that I could not have achieved these working on the physiotherapy placement I am on now.

The quality time I spent with my family at home is what I have valued the most from the free time. They are simply the best family ever. I was always ready to fly back to the UK after this precious time at home but only because I had already scheduled my next flight home!

Friends who kept me grounded and sane!

You know who you are. As a mature student it helps to know there are others in the same boat as you, who struggle with the same things. Mostly agreeing to go out to the cheapest places and huddle together with our packed lunches. This time around I didn’t go out mid-week or stay up all night at house parties. This time I was the other side of the bar SERVING the beer so I had the night life experience without the bad head the next day! Bar staff colleagues kept me sane.

As a mature student the pressure I put myself under to excel was horrific. This is because part of me felt I didn’t deserve to do another degree. Everyone who knows me knows this is my biggest flaw! The people I needed the most were always there, especially when I came out of exams crying when I convinced myself I messed up. When your WhatsApp group chat is called ‘Doughnuts Anonymous’ it’s clearly for venting and talking about how much food we eat when stressed! Cheers for all those agony aunt sessions girls.

Ready for the world

Returning to university as a mature student has no doubt got its ups and downs. Self-doubt, money worries, inadequacy, fitting in etc. Through the tough times I always reminded myself that 3 years is barely a fraction of my life (3.3% if I live until I am 90 years old)! On the upside, I have found myself trying to convince others with my ID that I am now 28 and not ’23/24’, I have never had a problem fitting in and am ready for that first monthly pay cheque to get me (almost) back out of my overdraft! BRING IT.

Lesson of the day

I have taken the long way around to get to where I have always wanted to be. I would ABSOLUTELY NOT have chosen any other route to get here. So, if anyone reading this has a fraction of an inkling that they want to start something they have always wanted to but just never did it, JUST GO AND DO IT and enjoy the experience.