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I was in secondary school between 2010 and 2014. I loved school, and was relatively good at it, but I had always suffered with anxiety and that started to affect me heavily when I had a bereavement in the family.
I would say that was a catalyst for my mental health to be really bad, to the point where I was so anxious and so depressed that I couldn’t leave the house let alone go to school. This was in 2013 so in my third year, and it went on for about a year. I was in and out of school but during that time the teachers were quite helpful, at least as far as they could be.
So when my National 5s were coming up in my fourth year, for the heats I was able to take them in different rooms and get extra time, but I was so sick (and I was getting progressively worse ) like they really couldn’t. accommodate me any longer.
Once things got to a stage where the school couldn’t help much more, what happened next?
So it got to a point where, before I was 16, the teachers had arranged a meeting at my house with me and my parents to have one last offer to bring me back to school, and my parents weren’t going to force me because they knew how unhappy I was and how sick I was.
It was almost like an unofficial decision made there that I didn’t need to come back even though my fourth year exams were coming up and I was still under 16.
So you effectively left school with nothing in 2014. How did you find your way to college, and how long did it take?
It took me three years to start feeling a bit more myself, but during that time I always knew how much education meant to me, I knew how important it was, I had a goal final – I didn’t feel like myself. he could get there. I had no idea where to go or what to do or if it was even possible because I had no qualifications.
Then I found out there was a college down the road from me that offered entry back into further education.
But you couldn’t pick up where you left off at school?
As I had no qualifications at all I did not manage to reach the mark to go straight into the 5 Nationals. I knew it would be a longer route, but I went through the application process, which was fairly easy, and the interviews and stuff like that and then I found myself in ‘Intro to Further Education’ makes National 4s.
I also managed to do the National 5 in Applied Maths during that year too, so that was good because I was having my first exam and I loved that. And I got an A.
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And after completing that ‘intro’ course, what were your next steps?
I knew once I completed that course that I wanted to stay at that college. I did my National 5s in 2018, passed all of them, and then went on to do Highers in 2019. I was doing well in them and then that’s when the pandemic hit. But I got my A’s and then during the lockdown I applied for an HND.
I was quite keen to go to university after I sat my National and Higher 5s, but it wasn’t an option for me because I still didn’t have enough qualifications, so I went for the HND Social Sciences and that was it. very good course.
I was proud of myself and where I had come from. I came out of school with no qualifications at all, thinking there was no chance for me, but college got me where I needed to be, and now I’m in my fourth year and about to finish my degree.
Obviously your path through education has not been ideal, but would you now agree that college has been a really important part of your journey?
There is no way I could have gotten here without going through college first. I spent five years in college and I think that is a crucial element to my current position. I think it’s a really good alternative route for myself and probably a lot of folk like me. You know, you don’t need to go straight from school to university – there are other options, you may not know about them but they are there.
College gives you the same kind of experiences that a university would – you still get similar skills, knowledge, all sorts of essential things that you need for your career – but it’s less scary, which was important to me. You have smaller classes instead of big lecture halls and that was really good for someone like me. For me, the staff were key to inspiring me, encouraging me, keeping me wanting to keep going – they were such a key and essential element of it.
You’ve already overcome many challenges and achieved a deal – but what’s next?
As soon as I graduate it’s at least a year out. I’ve been in education for so long and I’m 25 now so I want to get some work experience – full time work rather than just a part time job here and there.
Then I hope to go on to do a doctorate.
