well where shall i start….
Since i finished my college course (btec business studies), I applied for the University of Liverpool for a foundation biological science course which would give me the A levels I need to get in any science course within the University; my aim is to get into an environment and/or animal course.
This route was recommended to me by an advisor within my college along with the university which i regret to say I have had two bad experiences with now.
The first year i went, i was living in the halls away from my partner and from family(which isnt the best decision with my condition) and me and my mum did everything to inform them of my condition so the help could be put into place but as you will read on my previous posts this didn’t happen and long story short; i recieved no help, was struggling immensely and ended up suspending my course after 6 weeks due to having a relapse which took me a year to recover.
This year around i went back to the same course to the same college, prepared and eager to start again. This time they had learnt their lesson a bit and provided me with some help.. i recieved a support tutor (which was the best help), blue paper, i still had my equipment from last year, and when i asked my chemistry teachers for help (because i struggled with that the most) the provided me with a feedback sheet with each one of my lab reports, assignments and tests which helped a lot but for all the other subjects the help wasnt there. I went to the tutorials when i was free and the teachers helped me a little but i had to fight with a level students to get that little bit of help when the reality was that i needed much more.
My degree administrator was negative towards me, talked down to me and didnt communicate with me properly AND didnt provide me the conditions i needed for my exams and left everything till last minute… so as a summery, i had to fight for what little help i got.
So i looked for help elsewhere as well as pestering the staff, i read a ton of books, i asked for help off classmates, I looked online…and well …
1st semester i failed…
2nd semester i tried even harder (making myself ill in the process) and i failed again.
Of course i was majorly disappointed but it was said to me that i could always resit the year so I thought ok so i have to resit the year im sure to pass this time but what happened next really annoyed me….
I went on holiday for 2 weeks with my family (which couldn’t of come at a better time because i was majorly stressed) so i took this time to relax and think about the year that i wish had gone better, and thinking back…i tried a levels in college and i couldn’t do them but i thought with the course i had just been doing with being endorsed by the uni the support would be better AND the course but it wasn’t! It was twice now the uni had let me down! It didn’t make me feel as if they were there to help me succeed, they made me feel like they couldn’t care less.
I came back off holiday on the 31st June in the evening, i was at my mum’s house and a ‘lovely’ letter was waiting for me from the university, crapping myself with my mum sitting next to me i opened it and what it said shocked me so much and made me so angry that i was in tears all night and my eyes were swollen in the morning.
It basically said due to my results not being good enough for the university they were not giving me the opportunity to resit the year and were discontinuing my studies to that course…
To me this felt like a punch in the face, as I knew i didn’t do as well as i wanted but not being given the opportunity to resit the year i thought was harsh!!
I went the next day to a decision meeting with my parents who insisted to come to support me which i couldn’t of done without and my degree administrator, someone else from the college and my disability advisor and what felt like the most horrible meeting ever seemed to be about them having a go at me for not passing, not considering my circumstances or how much i have had on my plate this year not only with my condition and them saying well i didnt inform them of EVERYTHING that was going on which isn’t their business, that i had no choice but to appeal…
So on the way back to dropping me off to my flat me and my parents discussed what to do next and realised that even if i did return, i wasnt going to get the help i needed, the college wasnt good enough, the university have let me down enough, and even though i tried hard the course mustn’t be suiting me for me not to have passed so we agreed to let it go through, not appeal and look for another route into the career i want.
So after coming back home on tuesday i resting as i was stressed to death and the next day concentrated on finding another similar course in John Moores uni, hope uni, apprenticeships and other routes.
Eventually i found out the John Moores do a similar but Better course that i have just been doing, so i phoned them up and emailed them and eventually got to speak to someone and found out that the deadline has ended BUT they do take extra students applications in August! The guy in the science admissions department looked at my email and said i have all the right qualifications to get in and i have a good chance of getting in so i am mega happy!!
All i need to do now is apply after the 7th when the ucas website is working,,,
Today i have been researching John Moores University and was pleased to find out that they have won awards for their study skills and disability support AND the subjects i learn in the course i will actually use in a uni course, their courses are much better and they have more contact with wildlife funds and councils for environmental work!!
WHY DIDN’T I GO WITH THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
Well anyways that is the news of what I’ve been upto… now i am in my flat, bored, during the summer holidays, trying to look for a better job, voluntary work and some hobbies. 🙂
What has everyone else been upto??? (comment below)
A Student Living with Mental Illness. 