My return to education at the University of Salford was really quite unexpected, as the COVID pandemic changed my life in a different way than it did for most. For a decade prior to 2020, I worked in the travel industry; however, it had started to feel increasingly monotonous, and I knew I wasn’t being challenged to my potential. The decade prior to that, I had worked in hospitality within the UK and overseas, gaining plenty of life experience along the way too. When the first lockdown hit and I was furloughed indefinitely, I, along with millions of others across the world, was thrown into the unknown.
I joined the admin team at a local hospital during my furlough to assist with their office archiving backlog on a temporary basis, and while I was there, the opportunity to apply for a full-time Medical Laboratory Assistant role in histology presented itself. Having not considered a career in healthcare prior to starting there, I jumped at the chance to learn something completely new. Starting this new role introduced me to the fast-paced world of histology, where I received firsthand training on the job, learning basic laboratory skills from my peers. This experience ignited a spark in me that had been lying dormant. As my confidence grew, I began taking on new tasks, and with each new skill-based competency signed off, I reached the limit of my practice as an Associate Practitioner without a science degree. We then entered a discussion about what to do next for me to continue progressing.
Several avenues were explored to continue my progression, including online distance learning or potentially changing my role within the workplace; however, these options just didn’t feel like the right fit for me. When the discussion around doing an apprenticeship degree at Salford arose, it really piqued my interest because it was the perfect combination: I could continue doing the job I was really enjoying while completing the degree program on my study day (one day on campus per week) and integrating the registration portfolio into the apprenticeship. Getting that study day is such a vital tool to allow me to focus my time and energy to get the most out of all aspects of my working life. The combination of work-life, university-life, and life-life has so far turned out to be an intricate juggling act of prioritization, something which, thankfully, I excel at due to my experience in previous roles.
I never thought I would be going back into education at 36 years old, and some weeks are certainly more challenging than others, especially when life gets busy and the fear of falling behind strikes. However, I have found this first year to be incredibly rewarding, and the support received from both my tutors and my fellow apprentices has been beyond what I could have ever expected. That support network is such a blessing to have; knowing you can reach out to others who have gone through the challenges or are right in them with you has turned it into an incredible shared experience. Healthcare science is a fascinating, ever-developing discipline, and I continue to be excited to learn more within this field on my personal journey to becoming an HCPC-registered Biomedical Scientist.
