Student life in Bangor

Making my degree fit around my family life

Image of Beth Nicol at her graduation ceremony A mother of 3 from Bangor is graduating this week with First Class Honours after successfully balancing her family life with her studies and completing a part time degree in Literature with Creative Writing at Bangor University.

Beth Nicol, 43, left school after studying her ‘A’ levels and after a year at University studying Education, she gave up the course and went to work in administration. She was working at the University when she was approached by Lifelong Learning asking her if she was interested in studying part time. She said,

“Once I had my children, I felt that I had no other option than to keep working. I hadn’t thought about going back to higher education. I continued working throughout my studies and, yes, it was difficult at times – it always is, especially when you have children. I had the full support of my husband though. I could never have achieved this without him.”

Studying the course part-time through Lifelong Learning at Bangor meant that Beth was able to attend the seminars that were held between 6:00pm and 9:00pm without it disrupting her work and family life. Beth enjoyed the course very much. She added,

“Some seminars would explore different genres of English literature; others would be more workshop-like, encouraging us to experiment and develop our own writing skills. I studied a variety of authors and poets that I loved – Thomas Hardy and Angela Carter were my personal favourites, and I based my final two dissertations on them. The course was excellent, perfect for anyone who loves the written word.

“The highlight for me was meeting like-minded people of similar ages and backgrounds; pushing myself to the limit academically; rising to every challenge, and achieving my goals.”

Beth is now hoping to go on to study a PGCE course next year as she hopes to teach at secondary level or in FE Colleges in the future.