Returning to Education Leads to Master Plan for Suzanne

A near death experience following the traumatic birth of her fourth child was the trigger for Suzanne Agnew to do something for herself. Having restarted her education with SERC, Suzanne is preparing to graduate this summer and has just been accepted for a Master’s in Children’s Rights with Queen’s University Belfast.

Suzanne, (43) from Ballynahinch, is a busy mother of four children aged between seven and sixteen.  She said, “I left school after my GCSEs, and as I was sporty, I went to college to do a sports related course.  However, college wasn’t for me, so I left after the first year and I went out to work.   I had all kinds of jobs including retail, bar work, admin.  I also worked in a refugee camp outside Dublin and finally ended up as Assistant Manager of Peacocks here in Ballynahinch.  I was made redundant after the store’s closure and stayed at home full-time from then on to look after my children."

She continued, “The birth of my fourth child was traumatic.   Thankfully, we both survived, but the experience made me think I needed to do something more, something for myself.   I knew I was bright, and I wanted a challenge for myself.  At that time, I used to go to Home Start in the town which was great for getting out of the house and meeting people.    They always had speakers coming in, and one day it happened to be Ellie Bradley from the College, who told the group about the opportunities of returning to education with programmes such as Restart and Access."

  “Initially, I had thought of doing Access but was advised to do Restart first, since I hadn’t studied anything for such a long time. A few of us from the HomeStart group signed up.   I can honestly say this was the start of building my confidence.   For so long I was ‘just a mum’ and didn’t feel valued."

 “The classes - especially sociology - were a real eye-opener, as they made me think about the world around me.   I did well in Restart and the course gave me the best foundation for progressing – how to plan, structure and write an essay, which was invaluable for the Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Access Studies."

Speaking about the Access programme, Suzanne said, “What I enjoyed most about the course was the people I met - we were all there to prove, primarily to ourselves, that we were capable of something more."

 “The support from the lecturing team was amazing.  They were interested in me as an individual and what I had to say.   Throughout the course, we talked about going to university and yes, it was scary, but because we were all talking about it, it was less daunting."

Suzanne said, “I decided I was going to do a BSc in Social Policy and Sociology and I cannot believe I will graduate this year. Going to university can be daunting and I started my first year during Covid, so it was a case of getting to grips with studying for a degree, being online, mask-wearing, home schooling, technology and generally all the things in everyday life that had suddenly changed due to the pandemic. I struggled during the first year but just tried my best to get on with it.   Second year and third year were better, as you got to know your lecturers and other students with more face-to-face activity."

Speaking about being accepted onto the Masters, she said, “I am so excited to have been accepted onto the Master’s in Children’s Rights.   I am really interested in policy and want to be part of the changes need to support children in Northern Ireland."

“My children are so proud of me and everything I have achieved, and coming back into education has given me so much confidence.   For anyone one else thinking about coming back to restart their education, I’d say you have nothing to lose but everything to gain.   Find out what you can do and go for it."

Suzanne concluded, “People ask, ‘what do you bring to the table?’ and I feel like I have brought myself to the table and I am joining the conversation.”

Join us on Wednesday 17 May between 10.00am-2.00pm in Newcastle or Friday 19 May 10.00am - 2.00pm in Ballynahinch for our Restart & Access Open Day. Staff will be on hand to provide information, advice and guidance on Restart Education and Access to Higher Education courses, Student Finance, Careers Service, Little SERC - our onsite creche - and the application process.