A voice in my head told me to persevere
As a child Angela Mills was constantly told that she wouldn’t amount to anything.
For a long time she believed this, until taking a course in child protection through the youth club she volunteered for started to change her mind. It led to her applying for a place at university. The level 1 taster course interested her because of her own experiences as a child.
“After completing it I was eager for more knowledge and progressed to a level 3 course,” Angela, 31, says. “I found this to be a very difficult challenge and at times wished to give up. But a voice in my head told me to persevere.” Angela’s self-belief wasn’t her only obstacle to learning. With a disabled husband and two children to care for, she has had to work hard to fit her studying in. “I carried on for years believing that I was not good enough and lacked all confidence in myself,” she says. “After having my two children and then having to cope with the fact that my husband became disabled, I thought my life was over.
Gradually however, I pulled myself up and began to study seriously for the first time.” Now she is taking every opportunity available to her to fulfil her potential. Through an access course she has applied to study social work at Staffordshire University, which she hopes to take up this year.
For a long time she believed this, until taking a course in child protection through the youth club she volunteered for started to change her mind. It led to her applying for a place at university. The level 1 taster course interested her because of her own experiences as a child.
“After completing it I was eager for more knowledge and progressed to a level 3 course,” Angela, 31, says. “I found this to be a very difficult challenge and at times wished to give up. But a voice in my head told me to persevere.” Angela’s self-belief wasn’t her only obstacle to learning. With a disabled husband and two children to care for, she has had to work hard to fit her studying in. “I carried on for years believing that I was not good enough and lacked all confidence in myself,” she says. “After having my two children and then having to cope with the fact that my husband became disabled, I thought my life was over.
Gradually however, I pulled myself up and began to study seriously for the first time.” Now she is taking every opportunity available to her to fulfil her potential. Through an access course she has applied to study social work at Staffordshire University, which she hopes to take up this year.
Angela was nominated by Philip Whitehead of Staffordshire University for a West Midlands Regional Adult Learners' Week Award.
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