Thursday 13 08 2020
A former finance worker is on course to retrain as a child and family counsellor at University of the West of Scotland (UWS) after being inspired by her own children.
Mum-of-four Claire Morris, from West Kilbride, had followed in her own mother’s footsteps to pursue a career in accounting and finance after leaving school. The long commute from her home in Ayrshire to Glasgow, however, started to take its toll – and balancing work and family life started to become even more difficult when two of her children were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Claire explained: “I’ve always had a passion to work with children. Especially with my 16-year-old, the challenges that I had over the years with diagnosis and trying to get support, trying to cope with the home life balance and work – all of these life experiences made me wonder – was I really doing something I enjoyed, or was I doing something because it was comfortable?”
A chance email from a local college encouraged Claire to apply for an HNC in Early Years at the same time that her employer was making offers of voluntary redundancies. She got accepted onto the course and, after a year of study, applied for the BA in Childhood Studies at UWS’s Ayr Campus.
Diagnosis
Claire was accepted into the second year of the course but, a month in, received the devastating news that her youngest son, who is now four, had been diagnosed with a rare genetic blood disease called hyper IGM syndrome. The only long-term cure is a bone marrow transplant.
“I said to my course tutor, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know how I’m going to get through my course,’” Claire said. “She said to me I mustn’t worry, that the University would help me and give me any guidance I needed.
“Extensions with essays would be allowed, student support was there to help, my childcare would get paid for and if I needed time off for hospital and appointments, they’d work that out."
“I can’t say a bad word about any of the lecturers, they’ve all been so supportive. They’ve shown empathy towards me, my family and my children.”Claire Morris
With the support of the University’s staff, Claire had enough flexibility to get through the degree. Initially intending to stay on to get her BA at the end of third year, she decided to stay on for her Honours year, completing a dissertation in additional support needs support in early years setting, comparing Scotland to the United States.
For Claire, university has provided her with a focus outside of her home and given her the skills and knowledge to better support her family, which she says has been a real benefit for all of them.
She said: “Going to university has given me the tools to stay strong and get through this. I’ve learned so much at uni too that has helped my own family in terms of how to support them and their development. Things that I never knew about – how to handle the children, reinforcing good behaviour; there are so many strategies that I use at home – it’s not just about using it in the workplace.”
Next level
Having graduated from the BA (Hons) in Childhood Studies in July, Claire is now getting ready to take her education to the next level, having been accepted on to UWS’s Masters in Psychology. She hopes to use the course to get into counselling, specifically working with families and children with additional support needs.
Returning to education was not something that Claire pictured herself doing four years ago, but she says that the experience has been transformational. It has not only broadened her horizons academically but provided her with new friends and a support network – and she says it’s never too late for a change of path.
She added: “There are loads of people in dead-end jobs where they’re miserable and unhappy. Life is too short, as we’ve seen with this virus. You could be out there doing something you love, something that matters, something that makes a difference.”