I started my poetry journey many years ago and have always loved playing with words: we always had a dictionary in our house. Through school, college and university, it was always a friend. Whenever I felt down, I would write a poem, it was like my secret diary. Strangely, I never wrote about my many happy times. Maybe, because I focussed too much on the negative and not the positive. Which is weird, as I like to think of myself as a positive person, however many times I said the word, “but”.
I didn’t excel academically in school, I left with an RSA in typewriting. I did however, do well in sports. I represented my school in netball and hockey, ran the 100 metres, but always came third and did the shot put; in my school I came first but in the inter-school championships, I was last, so I gave up.
From the age of 11 I had always wanted to be a teacher and when I went to college and repeated my GCSEs, I didn’t have much confidence in passing them; I was more interested in socialising. On failing the exams the following year, I gave myself a pep talk and worked a lot harder and gained the qualifications to do A levels.
The A levels were very difficult for me and having repeated them twice, I was told by a close friend to do an Access course, which would be my way into university. I actually enjoyed the Access course, as I covered the practical and theoretical side of teaching.
University wasn’t plain sailing but I got through and my confidence in life grew. So, me writing my first blog and letting you see my diary is very scary but also exciting. My educational path to where I wanted to be and where I still need to be has been long, but not impossible. Don’t give up.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Nelson Mandela
