Tracy Audin BA (Hons) Business and Management at the University of Portsmouth

I left school with CSE qualifications, but I was never encouraged to go on to study. However, I was fortunate enough to secure what was thought of as a ‘respectful job’ with National Westminster Bank where I was employed for ten years. 

When I left it was to start my family and I was a housewife and mother for seven years.  During this period I used my spare time to attend adult learning classes for typewriting, word processing and desk top publishing, which gave me the confidence to apply for part-time jobs. This then led to a clerical assistant post with the University of Portsmouth Business School. 

Taking the first step

Although I enjoyed my role I always felt that there was room for improvement, so I embarked on an NVQ Level 3 Business Administration course through Highbury College.  The course took a year to complete and was quite a challenge because it was so different from anything else that I had studied before.

It was a few years after I completed my NVQ that I heard about the Foundation Degree in Business and Management at the University of Portsmouth Business School.  The course was to run part-time for three years and if I wanted to ‘top up’ to a full honours degree I learned that this could be achieved part-time for a further 18 months study.

Having been out of the school environment for over twenty years I was a little nervous when I enrolled on the FdA as I didn’t really know what to expect. The course required me to attend two hour long seminars once a week, lots of reading and researching, not to mention coursework and EXAMS! 

Learning to cope with the work load

I have to admit that in the early stages I found it hard adjusting to this new lifestyle of working full-time, trying to keep a home for a family of seven and studying, but I soon settled in. Fortunately I received tremendous support from academics, work colleagues and my husband. Without them I’m sure I would have dropped out early.

When I graduated in 2007 I had this great feeling of satisfaction - my three years of hard work had paid off.  My parents and family came to my graduation and were amazed at the ceremony.

More study!

I had almost resigned myself to the fact that after graduation my studies would cease - how wrong I was! My class colleagues convinced me to carry on with the ‘top-up’ degree. This meant another 18 months of study! 

Now I am nearing the end of my studies and after five and a half years I’m really looking forward to reading novels again. I don’t want to see another academic book for a long time!

At times during my studies I felt quite lonely, as if I was the only person having to do all this studying on top of working and running a home. But I’m very glad that I decided to study the Foundation Degree and then go for the ‘top up’ and I’m proud of myself for getting this far. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I was ever going to have a BA (Hons) Degree!