Returning to education after a break: Emma's journey | with the University of Law
Many places of study welcome mature students each year, juggling work commitments, childcare and other responsibilities. This week we're joined by Emma Hunter, a student ambassador from the University of Law who tells us about her personal journey upon returning to education later in life
Participants
In order of first appearance:
- Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Prospects
- Emma Hunter - student ambassador, the University of Law
Transcript
Emily Slade: Hello and welcome to Future You, the podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts Prospects. I'm your host, Emily Slade. Many places of study welcome mature students each year, juggling work commitments, childcare and other responsibilities This week we're joined by a student ambassador from the University of Law who tells us about her personal journey upon returning to education later in life.
On Wednesday 15th May 2024 at 6pm Emma will be speaking at a virtual event on this topic - for more information or to sign up for the event, just follow the link in the description.
Emma Hunter: My name is Emma Hunter. I'm a student ambassador at the University of Law. I'm in my penultimate year of my LLB law degree. I work three days at a law firm. I've been doing this for about 20 years now. So yeah, it's me coming back to education, really. And it was, it was quite daunting to do that. But I'm settled in obviously, after three years, you do get settled into it. And also, I'm a mum to two children, and have two dogs and a single parent. So it's, you know, there's a lot of juggling going on, to be able to do all this. But after it, you know, I've really enjoyed my journey. So far. It's I've learned an awful lot about myself, and about what I'm actually capable of.
Emily Slade: And so yeah, gosh, yeah. That is a lot to juggle, isn't it? So? Would you like to start, I suppose sort of describing your journey so far, when did you first enter into education and sort of what that looks like?
Emma Hunter: Okay. So I took the decision back in 2020. Basically, my youngest daughter, Holly, she basically, she was going to start school in September, and I worked three days. So I had two days off in the week. And at that point, it was, you know, it was one of those moments, I'm thinking, what do you actually want to do with your career? What do Where do you want to go with it? I work in document production at a large law firm. And before that, I was working as a legal secretary. And I don't know, I just think that at that point, I was like, well, what can you choose? Do you think you could maybe go further with this? I've worked with lawyers for a long time. And but I've always been under that impression that I was never smart enough, or that I wouldn't be capable of it or was maybe too old to go back into education. But after speaking to people at work, they did, they did guide me through that. And they gave me some pointers about where best to maybe start it. And they gave me a lot of confidence to go back in. So I applied. And I got accepted. And despite not having A Levels, despite not doing very well in my GCSEs, a long, long time ago. And the experience that I gained along the way is working in law and working, having all this life experience and enabled me to go and take on this degree. So yeah, so I applied and then I started my degree in 2021.
Emily Slade: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. That's incredible. So you talked about the worries that you perhaps had, and feeling you were perhaps too old to re-enter education, you didn't have the confidence? What advice would you give to people listening with similar worries?
Emma Hunter: Well, I don't think at the end of the day, I mean, take this route, you know, I get, like I said, earlier, I did, I got three GCSEs. I didn't do a levels. So you know, and I was always under the impression that I wasn't smart enough or bright enough to do it. But I think if you have that right mentality to be able to push yourself and believe that you actually can do it, then it is possible. Now my experience as a, as a secretary, I had to be super organised. And being a parent as well. You do have to be really organised. you're juggling so many things, even when you're not doing higher education. If you're just working and juggling kids, it's it's a real challenge. So it was it was like people at work there. Were saying, Well, you do all this and you what makes you Why do you think you can't do this? So I think that was kind of I think, if you're gonna go into this, just have a little bit of self belief, if you if you've been able to do work, if you've been able to juggle other responsibilities. If you have that belief that you can do it and you have the determination and drive to do well, then it's absolutely possible. It really is. Yeah.
Emily Slade: So what was it specifically that brought you back to education?
Emma Hunter: Well, at that point, when I was when I was going back to school, I just wanted to say it was a bit you know, where do we where did I want to go with my career? I didn't really no disrespect to the job that I do now. Absolutely love working in Docker production. It's a fantastic team. And you'll you'll learn all sorts of technical skills. But I just wanted to go further. I just want you know, by the time that my children left high school, for example, I didn't want to then look back and think I could have done this, but I chose not to because I thought I couldn't do it. So I thought, well, I'm going to maybe if I can get a law degree, then that will open up opportunities, whether that's working as a solicitor or a paralegal, and there's so many other occupations that you can take on with a law degree. You're not limited to law. So I just thought about the opportunities that it would give me and the LLB law degree was the the inevitable choice rarely because I work in law. So I do enjoy it. So I thought, Well, maybe you would enjoy this. And that's, that's where I went with it. Yeah.
Emily Slade: So what have been the main challenges along the way? So you sort of made this decision with one button location, what was the first bump in the road?
Emma Hunter: It was learning how to study again. So GCSE, I mean, bear in mind, I'm 46. I don't mind mentioning my age, I'm 46. And so when I started this degree, I, you know, I've been out of education for 20 odd years, and I'd only done the GCSE. So it was like a completely new ballgame. Learning how to study law, learning that the actual topics and what you're actually learned about is quite difficult. But learning how to write an essay, how to read cases, and all those things, all the academic side of it, that was the most challenging for me, because it felt like it was doing a course alongside my law degree. So I think if you can, if you're going to, if you may be looking at going in doing a degree, I think probably the best thing you can do before you even start the course, is have a look at your your own like academic skills. If you've if you've not, if you've been out of education for a while, maybe have a look at the resources that there are available. Because there are a lot out, there's a lot out there that you can use to be able to practice and have an understanding about maybe critical thinking skills or essay writing, and, or like presentations and so on. And if you can kind of get that under your belt before, then it honestly that would have made a massive difference to me. If I could go back and do it again. That's exactly what I would have done.
Emily Slade: How, how on earth, do you? How do you juggle everything?
Emma Hunter: I think the key is staying, unbelievably organised. So I I've always had to be organised because there's a legal secretary or legal PA, the job is to be organised. And I think that gave me a little bit of an advantage because I had those skills under my belt. So I'll give you an example of what I do. So I have a wall planet that sets out all my key deadlines, all my exam dates, and so on. But then I'll also have a spreadsheet that a breakdown every single hour of every single day. So I have to juggle the kids, and I have to juggle my job as well as this degree. So being able to break the tasks down each and every week helps me understand how long I'm spending on things. And where I can improve to, to give myself more time, because what's important to me is that I have that really good balance. So I like to look after my physical my mental health. So I do a lot of running. So I have to factor that in that is really important to me, I have to spend time with the kids to make sure that they're getting some time with me. And obviously, I have to do my job. So finding out a strategy that will work again, before going into this is absolutely important. And that's how I stay motivated. That's how I stay in tune with where I am and what I've done. And I also have a tick sheet of everything that I you know, I tick off everything. So that I know that I've not missed anything out. And you do get into a routine actually, after a few months, you will get into a routine of being able to understand what works for you. Yeah, but yeah, it is. I mean, that in itself is a challenge. If you don't have any structure to your week, it can it can really have an effect on your studies, that everything else
Emily Slade: I can imagine. Have you slipped up? And how did you get back on track?
Emma Hunter: Yes, I have slipped up. I mean, you know, I'm here to be really honest about this. I mean, last year, we're back at Yeah, beginning of last year, I finished my exams. And maybe me I do put an awful lot of pressure on myself. So when I was studying for the exams, I was really going into it head on that particular with December 2021 I think it was when it Yeah. And I was just burning myself out. And then I started to you know, just put too much time into the unit studies rather than trying to balance things out. And I ended up completely burnt out. And I think that was just me putting a lot of pressure on myself. And because I want to do well. So I think maybe having you know, just really realistic expectations about what you can achieve because there'll be some weeks wait maybe for for Matt in my situation, you know, maybe Holly will my daughter she'll be poorly or I'll have to like take my eldest daughter to some kind of thing at college and you know, that does interfere with things. I think just being realistic planning ahead and thinking well, maybe this week, I'm just not going to be able to do as much on this for instance, and that's going to have to be good enough is I learned that I learned the hard way. But then I also made sure that that was the point where I started doing more physical exercise. And looking after my emotional my physical well being that was that's where that became paramount. Paramount.
Emily Slade: Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it's a lot of sort of mindset and this willingness to have that flexibility, like the sort of juxtaposition of a really hardcore structure, when the very open, flexible mindset knowing that, you know, sometimes you'll you will fall off the wagon.
Emma Hunter: Yeah, and you've got to, you know, you can't, life happens, you know, it's, you can't, you can't put too much pressure on yourself. I mean, I was, you know, every single assignment, I want you to first class, it was just like that, that is the, that's, that's just me putting pressure on myself. I don't need to get a first class, with every exam or everything. But because I'd set the bar high to start with, it was like, Well, I've got to keep going this way. And, you know, it's, yeah, it's not the grades are important to me. But now it's like everything else that goes along with it. And I think because I've taken on board my own mistake, so to speak. I've kind of you know, I've still been able to do really, really well, but with the you know, the balance have been able to look after myself as well.
Emily Slade: So how did you manage the challenge of funding?
Emma Hunter: So I, I'm not, I'm not so funny, I'm going to the I'm getting a student loan every time and I don't have like the, the money to pay for it. You know, I'm a single parent, I'm on my own. I don't have that support around me in that in that way. So yeah, I went to Student Finance England, and I get my, my university fees paid for that way. And then obviously, I'll pay it back at the end of the day.
Emily Slade: It sounds like you're an incredibly motivated person that you've, you've gotten to this point in your life, and you're going for what you absolutely want. So my next question was going to be what, what does keep you motivated? And what advice would you have for people that feel like if the challenges get too much, or they're starting to struggle, what's gonna keep you motivated.
Emma Hunter: And for me, I mean, this is gonna sound really, really corny, really, but, you know, I, my children have completely aware of what I'm doing, I'm really open with them about how hard it can be, and what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, you know, I'm doing it for a better future for them for me. And so if you know, like, you know, when times have been really, really tough when I've struggled with with stuff at uni, I just think, well, if I gave up now, I'm letting them sell them down, I'm letting myself down. And also, it's just a completely complete waste. If you get for instance, to the halfway point, then you give up there, then all that time that you spent on your degree so far, is just a complete waste of time. Because you don't get a degree for half of it, you've got to complete it. And just I just keep in sight, that goal, at the end of the day, next year, I'll be graduating. And I'll be able to say I've come I've done this, despite it being really, really challenging at times. And it'll, it's an example to set to my children. So it's, yeah, that's the main focus really been able to show them and have them maybe at the graduation and say, look, look what Mommy can do. And you can do this too. So, so yeah, that's my motivation. Really?
Emily Slade: Yeah, that's lovely. We've talked briefly about the sort of financial support from students, England, what other support has been available to you throughout your journey that you've leant on?
Emma Hunter: Well, I mean, financial support, I haven't, you know, obviously, I just have to work. So um, but everything else, I've had really, really good support from the University of Law and from their well being teams, they've been absolutely fantastic. They are, you know, when I was suffering burnout last year, they were just immediately on the ball, they were just, they arranged appointments for me, they sent me you know, they gave me lots of resources to review. And that just having that time for me having a chat with me, and it just made such a difference. Because studying long distance like this, it can feel a little bit lonely sometimes. So knowing that there is that support has been fantastic. Also, I've had fantastic support on the study skills side of things. So I've had one to one appointments. In the early days, particularly when I was struggling with the essay writing and research side of things. There were loads of resources for me to go to so I was able to undertake courses I did the Lexus training on legal research, which was fantastic. But the one to one appointments made that big difference because they were able to review what I've done so far, and then give me pointers to how to improve. So but also the tutors on the actual courses have been fantastic as well. They're really motivated for you to do well. They want you to they want you to do well so they're always willing to give advice and suggestions and other things Another one was the employability Services at the University of Law. I found them really helpful. They reviewed my CV for me, when I've been doing training contract applications. They've been reviewing them and giving me little pointers about how I can improve and what I need to do less on a more on and so on. So basically, it's been a whole all round approach all round bank of resources that I've been able to hone in on that's made that big difference.
Emily Slade: How did you become a student ambassador, as well?
Emma Hunter: I base I mean, I applied, I just it was somebody one of my, one of my student friends said, why don't you go for this, Emma, you really, you know, you're always motivated, as you're always doing. You know, you, you've got that drive and ambition and so on. And I initially stepped back and thinking maybe I can't I can't do this. I haven't got the confidence to be able to do this. I'm not the probably the best role model. I don't know. But I thought no, just do it. Because I think sometimes you have to do things that scare you. And I'm not saying better student ambassador scary. It's absolutely not like that. I love absolutely love doing this role. But it just it. Yeah, I thought it would give me an awful lot of confidence. And it really has. So yeah, made an application. I was interviewed, I did a little presentation. And and I really thought I'm not going to get this and then I did. So it's it's yeah, it's been fantastic. Best thing I've done so far on the course if I'm honest, amazing.
Emily Slade: And what what does the future look like for you? Do you have a sort of plan beyond graduation?
Emma Hunter: Yes. I'm trying not to put all my eggs in one basket, I was applying for training contracts, and that was eight. But I've got an internship at the law firm that I work for. So I'll be doing that in the summer this year, and then I'll be assessed for a training contract with them. That will be absolutely fantastic. But I'm not going to feel like a failure if I don't get through it. So I think I think if I don't get through the internship and get a training contract offer, then I'll probably look to paralegal roles next year. So yes, I'm trying not to look too far in the future right now. Because again, it was just putting too much pressure on myself. So yeah, see, I would do.
Emily Slade: Yeah, no, that makes sense. Do you have any advice for anyone who's listening, that sort of considering going back into education, worried about it, any advice that you would give them?
Emma Hunter: Okay, so I think you need to, and I think you need to have an understanding of why you want to do this, because that will give you the end, that will give you the kind of an end goal really, if you don't know why you do in it, then I think it must, I'm assuming it must be easy to slip. And, and maybe not prioritise it so much, you do have to have an understanding of how long it's going to take you to do, you know, to be able to get through each week of study. So I spend about 25 to 30 hours a week, and I'm on the four year course. So it can take a massive amount of your time. So you do have to be realistic with what you can give. I think you do need support from people around you. So my partner Matt would, he doesn't live with me, but he's incredibly supportive for me and my friends are as well and so is the firm that I work for. So having that support will help you when times are tough. But don't be afraid of going for it if you know don't think that you can't do this, because I think that anybody can if they want it enough so having the drive and ambition to do it and to do it well and to give it your all is absolutely really really important. Another thing you have to do when you're doing this is be realistic with yourself you know try not to put too much pressure on yourself, look after your mental and your physical well being because for example my running helps me to focus on my studies so much better. When I've not been running when I've not been looking after all those things that make a difference. Everything just gets affected by it. So I think your mental well being has to be a priority and having other activities don't just put everything into this you need to be able to have all the things that you're interested in because it will help balance it out because otherwise it can really consume you a little bit I'm not trying to put people off by the way but it can be really really consuming doing degree and it's it's you know you can lose sight of what's really important if you if you're not if you're not careful about it so yeah think why you're going to be doing this and what you know what's your purpose what you what's your end goal? Why do you think you won't? Why have you chosen to do this? Can you give enough time? Can you balance out your over other commitments, your other things that you have to do? Yeah, but just go for it. Don't think you can't do it because you really can't be if you think you can.
Emily Slade: Thank you so much for your time today.
Emma Hunter: No, no It's been my pleasure Emily thanks for having me on the podcast. Thank you
Emily Slade: Thanks again to Emma for her time. On Wednesday 15th May 2024 at 6pm Emma will be speaking at a virtual event on this topic - for more information or to sign up for the event, just follow the link in the description.
Make sure you give us a follow wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to get in touch you can email at podcast@prospects.ac.uk or find us on Instagram and TikTok, all the links are in the description. Thanks very much for listening and we'll see you next time!
Notes on transcript
This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.
Find out more
- Hear more from Emma at Return to Learn (Online Campus Virtual Event).
- Read all about Emma's journey as a mature student.
- Common questions about postgraduate study.