Starting a degree course is daunting enough for anyone. But being a mature student juggling uni life with the ironing mountain and trying to forget that your fellowstudents are the same age as your children adds another level of stress – and achievement, writes Heather Smith
It is the best part of an academic year since I finally made it through the college door – without a rucksack or lucky gonk – to start a BA Hons degree in Writing for the Media.
On that nervous September morning I was convinced I would be the only one munching on a hot dog at the “Mature Students’ Welcome Barbecue” at Marjon – the College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth.
A few weeks earlier, my concerns about fitting in to a place geared towards the younger learner had been apparently confirmed when I received a copy of the Marjon Students Union magazine detailing freshers’ week activities.
Oh dear. Did I really have to wear a toga?
I need not have worried. By 12:30pm the seats in The Quad were packed with mature students waiting for dinner. There are about 200 first year students over the age of 21 – the criteria for a mature learner – enrolled at Marjon and older students make up around 65 percent of the total student cohort.
We are a mixed bunch. Mature students range from the 21-year-old sports science undergraduate living at home with their parents to the retired businessman exploring his passion for history. As someone last in full time education when the Rubik’s Cube was all the rage, my main concern was coping with the level of study.
As Belinda, a mature student studying for a teaching degree puts it: “My maths was last used in anger 30 years ago, so it’s quite hard to open the right boxes in my memory.”
I’d studied English literature at A-level so I thought I could cope with grammar and discussions on narrative style. Even so, I knew I would have to blow a few cobwebs from those particular boxes. But how was I going to manage when media studies was not even an option when I was at school?
The first few weeks left me exhausted. Only a few months earlier I’d been stuffing catalogues into envelopes in a grey office. Now I was having to stuff ideas about semiology, post-modernism and the Frankfurt School into my grey matter.
And like any vigorous exercise using out-ofshape muscle, it hurt.
Of course I also had to learn to juggle family, employment and college work – not easy when timetables keep changing. It is also difficult to concentrate on 1,500 word essays when there is washing-up to do and tea to cook.
My admission that I was actually relishing the thought of an uninterrupted hour in the library reading about globalisation was met with looks of amazement from my nonmature course mates. They obviously had not seen my ironing mountain.
Media courses tend to attract young people, so often I’ve found that I am the only one nodding as the lecturer asks if anyone has heard of such 80s icons as Nationwide, Erasure or the four-minute warning. The age difference between me and my fellow students can be quite amusing. On one occasion a flustered student apologised to me for being late. Slipping into a parent role is another constant danger.
As Belinda says: “The youngsters are nearly the same age as my daughter, so you have a head conflict whether to play mother or friend. There have been pluses because you gain an insight into their heads and you can explain some of the parental moves – sometimes!”
So, apart from the Student Union card, what are the benefits of being a mature student? Well, those years away from academia have allowed me to find what my true interests are – a major advantage when you finally realise just how many books you have to read in three years.
The decision to come to university has involved sacrifices, so I’m motivated to get my degree. It’s the mature student’s determination and discipline that makes older learners so attractive to HE colleges and universities. We are often the most vocal in seminars and tutorials, illustrating the dry theory with juicy life experiences. But we must not get too carried away. Mature students walk the thin line that separates the two camps. We need to be accepted as both lecturer’s sometime helper and critical student.
Working with younger students is also great. On the whole they are a friendly and enthusiastic lot. In return for an explanation of just what Nationwide was about, those media studies lessons mean they can show you how to wield a video camera like a pro. And they are far more funny than Brian from Accounts ever was. Words of wisdom (are you listening at the back?) Build in extra time when planning assignments.
A sudden rush job at work can make all your hard work in vain when late assignments attract a harsh penalty. Make sure you know the procedure for extenuating circumstances. Take advantage of all the possibilities college offers. The old adage that you get out what you put in certainly rings true in this case. Writing for the student newspaper or getting involved with the Student Council hones skills, helps to build a portfolio and a great looking CV. Try to enlist as much help as you can with domestic duties around assignment completion deadlines
For more ramblings of a mature student go to my blog at http://laterstudy.blogspot.com/
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