DIARY: The road so far

It's been twelve months now, twelve months since my Fianceé convinced me (and it took alot of convincing...) that despite what I thought, I could make it into University even with my rough road with Education in life so far. I was convinced that me and Education were never meant to be - if you told the 16, 18, even 25 year old me that I would one day study at University I would have laughed and walked away! However with a shove from my better half I enrolled on a College Access course with a view of taking my Medical Career to the next level and making the jump from Combat Medic to a fully qualified State Registered Paramedic.



Once I began my Access Course I was hugely surprised that I wasn't quite the ill-educated idiot I thought I was and I began racking up Distinctions in my work from Day 1. With this boost in confidence I took the plunge and began wearing my fingertips away writing and then re-writing my Personal Statement and once it was at a stage I was happy with I fired it off and was blown away when I received an invite to an interview, then another, then another and another. I delved into the world of the NHS Ambulance Professional from that moment on, when it became real and I knew I'd be sat infront of people who would hold the strings on any potential career as a Paramedic.

I put hundreds of hours in as a First Responder, making sure I took whatever jobs came through to my phone - both to broaden my Medical experience and simply to watch Paramedics at work and learn all that I could. I spent many a long evening tearing through Internet forums and resources to immerse myself in the vocabulary of the NHS and Paramedics so that I could talk the talk to help demonstrate my thorough research into the profession.

After a few successful Interviews I was in a position where I had offers from my top two choices and I will never forget that feeling of weight lifted from my shoulders as I knew that I'd made it where hundreds of others hadn't, that now I had a real shot at becoming a Paramedic and the gambles and sacrifices I'd made were paying off.

Since then it's been applying for Student Finance, Accommodation, I've just been granted a Scholarship due to my performance which I'm hugely proud of and I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that due to my choice in University I will be spending huge amounts of time away from my Fiancee and Children and the daunting prospect that it brings. I hope that one day my kids will understand why I had to do this and I'd like to hope that it will inspire them to chase their own dreams and to never give up no matter what - I'm very lucky to have a caring family behind me and I will draw on that strength many times no doubt over the next 3 years.