IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY, but it was in fact back in 1997 when I saw an advert offering a distance learning course Certificate in Interpersonal Skills For Volunteers.  I clearly remember thinking “why not”; it would only involve a few essays and could be an interesting challenge. Well, it certainly did prove a challenge!

For a start, all previous attempts at writing had been limited to shopping lists and the occasional note to the milkman. Undaunted by this lack of experience, I attempted the first assignment working in freehand because I couldn’t type or use a computer.

My husband David typed it up, my sister Claire checked it and the rest of the family searched for grammar mistakes.  Eventually the family effort was ready to post and I waited with eager anticipation for it to be marked and returned.  The first mark was encouraging and from then on in I was “hooked”.  The family input in terms of encouragement and support continued throughout and in time I started to develop confidence in my own abilities and felt nearly as clever as my children.

At some point, Carolyn (former head of department) mentioned an Advanced Level Course in Interpersonal Skills and then the possibility of taking it on to a degree.  Was I interested?  Well of course I was!  My family pushed me on, David said he could no longer do the typing and it was time I became computer literate.  My daughter Jacques, who had trained as a remedial teacher, came to the rescue and despite protestations of it being totally impossible and well beyond my capabilities, she taught me to use the computer.  [The offshoot for her was that I was such a good pupil, she started teaching computer skills and has since built up a successful business.]

Looking back, I think the main turning point came at the end of the Certificate in Interpersonal Skills, when students are asked to identify personal goals and how to go about achieving them.  I came to the sobering realisation that I had none.  To comply with the course demands I dreamt up a few and have spent the last ten years working towards fulfilling them.  Amongst these was an interest in learning more about counselling, and alongside the distance-learning course, I enrolled on a Postgraduate Diploma In Counselling at the University of Hertfordshire and qualified in 2001.

Distance learning turned out to be my passion; each new module and assignment brought new challenges.  I harangued anyone who would listen about how impossible it would be and in time learnt that it just needed patience and time and that everything was in fact manageable.  However, it wasn’t all hard work, in 1998 the Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers was awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize and I was thrilled to be included in the group invited to Buckingham Palace to be introduced to her Majesty and Prince Phillip, as well as to watch Carolyn and the then Vice-Chancellor receive the award.

Over these past years, my learning and understanding of a wide range of subjects has been considerable.  I am still working as a volunteer and hope to continue to do so for many years to come.  At the same time, and as a direct consequence of the course, I have found paid employment in a counselling organisation with responsibilities that include supporting and organising volunteers.

To put it simply, the course has been an empowering experience and has brought me a new confidence that I had never expected to find at this late stage of my life.  Now it is all completed and the last essay posted, the satisfaction of not having to worry about the next assignment is exciting.  However, I find myself looking at my now idle computer and believe I heard Clare mention something about an MA course...

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James' Story
Liz's Story
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