Eleanor tells how and why she returned to education as a mature student and the sense of achievement as well as pride she felt on graduation day.
"I reared four children, sent them all off to college (one of them is graduating today) and thought now is my time. It was something I always wanted to do." SETU Graduate, Eleanor Murphy
Eleanor Murphy from Waterford recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Criminal Justice Studies.
A multidisciplinary approach
SETU's BA (Hons) in Criminal Justice Studies is a very broad course. It includes a lot of modules, a lot of things I would have been previously interested in like victimology and social policy. It also included other law modules, such as criminal, prison and employment law. I liked this multidisciplinary approach, as it gave a very broad understanding of the justice system as well as an understanding of how people are treated within it. I got back into education about five years ago through the Waterford Women’s Centre, which encouraged and supported me to go on and do a degree. I particularly chose this course because of those interests.
Never too late
I reared four children, sent them all off to college (one of them is graduating today) and thought now is my time. It was something I always wanted to do, I felt my time was gone but then I thought no, I can do it anytime! It's never too late to come back. Life is about learning experiences and this one has given me a huge sense of achievement.
Next stop: master's degree at SETU
I work in Waterford Women's Centre doing some facilitating and am also note-taking at SETU for a student with a disability. I am also contemplating returning to college next year to do a master's programme.
Always willing to support
When I was coming in I had a certain degree of nerves but any fears I had were quickly dissipated because of my peers and also because of the ethos within SETU Waterford campus. I found everyone so friendly and so accommodating, they were always willing to support me. I hadn’t considered the actual graduation day until I put on the robes this morning and the hat and I felt quite proud!
