Big news | A new start

Anyone who follows my blog, or checks in on my social media profiles, will be aware of the fact that I want to be a midwife. I have spent the last 8 months studying an access course in order to be eligible to apply to university. When UCAS opened for applications for September 2017, I fired off my personal statement and references and crossed my fingers. 

I was over the moon to be offered an interview at Plymouth University a few weeks later, and spent some time doing some reading around recent midwifery topics, the role of the midwife and the all important 6 C’s of midwifery – Care, Compassion, Communication, Courage, Commitment and Competence. 

Interview day arrived and I was a bag of nerves. I drove to Plymouth, along with my colleague who also had an interview. We chatted a lot about our hopes and dreams on the way there, and practiced interview answers. On arrival, we all had to undertake a maths and english paper, before individual interviews. 

I came out feeling OK. My interview had flowed well, I was happy with my answers and I felt as though I had done my best. We were told that some rejections and offers would be made immediately, but the majority of us would be waiting until April for an answer. A week or so later, I received an email saying I was indeed on the ‘wait’ pile. I consoled myself with the fact that it wasn’t a rejection and I was in with a chance. 

Plymouth carried out a few more rounds of interviews, and I saw some people receiving offers. I had almost accepted that this wasn’t to be my year – it is an INCREDIBLY competitive course, and it was my first year applying. I was full prepared to have to apply again next cycle, and put it to the back of my mind for now. 

Until last week. I received an email saying that UCAS Track had been updates – this is the portal that universities use to keep in touch. I logged on knowing it would be a rejection, as we had been told offers would not be made until April. Only to see this: 

I didn’t expect this at all. I didn’t expect to be offered a place at my first choice university on my first cycle. I just didn’t expect this to be my year. Tears and laughter followed, as Kevin and friends rallied round to congratulate me. 

It still hasn’t really sunk in, although getting a letter confirming my place in writing has made it a bit more real.  

So, it’s real, and I am starting to believe it. Come September, I will be juggling family life with a full time degree, as well as working on placement in the hospital. It is going to be tough, I have no doubt, but there will be nothing to compare to the first time I deliver a baby. What a privilege it is going to be to work with families at such a special period of their lives, and support others through the tough time. 

So, this is our new start. Student Midwife 2017. 

For more details on midwifery, you can read my post ‘How to become a student midwife‘.