Hey mummas
I would like to hear your thoughts/experiences on this...
I have been working since I was 13. Now 23. Only had two jobs in the 10 years and haven't gone to uni only completed grade 12. Since having my daughter a year ago (only child) and breaking up with her father I have really started to think about life differently. I enjoy my current office job, I have bad days that make me want to quit but overall it's good. It's just getting a bit mundane and I want to do something more with my life as in study. I've been thinking of teaching or psychology or even starting my own business. My dilemma is that I would like to keep my part time job (3days a week) and study but don't know how realistic this will be with a one year old. I just don't know if I am going to be motivated enough to go through a whole 4+ years of study. I also feel like I am way undereducated about the ins and outs of uni/study life and if I am way in over my head. I guess I just have no faith in myself. But I need to do this for not only me but for my daughter to show her that she can achieve whatever she wants in life as long as she works hard to get it.
This has just turned into a jumbled mess lol. Basically I just want to know if I should just dive in and go for it. But how do I choose what I want to do... I would go to an open day but there aren't anymore for this year where I live. Has anyone else been in this same predicament and came out the other end in a better place?
P.S admin can you please not post this to Facebook as my mum reads this page and I just don't want her to be nosey because she will be able to tell it was me with all the detail
4 Replies
Hy mum of three here study part time .. my advice is do it now .. you can do it and the advantage is so what if you only have ur twelve your so Much more worldly now and you know what you need to do.. get organised .. keep your job . Get a babysitter if you can.spare some cash so it allows you study.. I would subject doing it part time as it's still really tough whilst working and raring a child .. but you can do it ad you will .. just do it . Or else it will be five yrs on and your still.pro procrastinating get some confidence it's all learning as far as uni goes I did it I struggle almost a yr and a half in now and boy I am not looking back . There are days where I dont do a thing study wise and concentrate on my babies but when I see the end goal I get the head down .. you can and Wil do it just start and take baby steps my advice good luck .. anything is possible if you really want it that bad enough x
I would suggest you consider part time external as an option so you can take your time to get your head around the referencing etc and uni timetable as even.part time is full on with work and kids then if you decide I'm nailing it then maybe go full time I'm my opinion part time was more manageable for work and family . I won't lie it's hard and there is no me time but it's very doable and what's 4yrs of your life when your set up for life after that 😬😬
Go for it!
I loved uni, I found it easier than high school!
There is actually loads of on campus and online support. Very easy to study from home these days, most uni libraries are electronic in nature so they don't have paper books etc. so you visit the library via your computer.
I chose to be on campus but uni being uni you can mix it up. I found it was helpful to be in contact and around other students at least one day a week.
I personally would keep your job and study part time at first. You can always increase study and decrease work later.
As to what to study? I suppose you just have to research degrees and what sort of jobs they could lead to. Some people end up changing degrees because you don't know until you get there and that's ok.
You can definitely study and work I always had to (and yes after kids - it is so much harder but not impossible, it takes a lot of planning and balancing and letting everything else go sometimes, its really not easy after kids you really have to want uni). Four units per semester is fulltime but you choose what works for you. I have done one when Im flat out, two is quite easy to manage, and I have done four and even five and just powered through it basically in hell but its only 8 or 10 weeks.
Then have a break.
Yes it is REALLY hard to stay motivated throughout the years you will definifely earn it! Its even harder if youre under financial stress so definitely keep your job or some kind of income. Completing is a huge accomplishment!
Also you can pick up intensive units (crammed into a short break) and there is a third trimester over christmas so if you use all of those you can still study part time and be done in 3 or 4 years.
Go for it!