I dropped out of uni but my adopted dad made me promise to go back to education

Mum- of- three Carol Hunter is studying for a BA honours in social sciences which she’ll complete in June.

It’s a second shot at further education, inspired by her dad before he died from cancer.

“I went to Aberdeen University to study primary teaching when I left school but it never worked out for me,” said Carol, who lives in Dunfermline and works fulltime as Fife College Student Association president.

“I’m adopted and kind of grew up wrapped in cotton wool in a small mining community. So going from that to the big city was really daunting and overwhelming.

“I left after a year with nothing but student debt and went into an accounts job for 13 years.”

Along the way Carol had her three children, Jackson, eight, Carson, six, and Odynn, two.

But her earlier experience of further education always played on her mind. “I had always felt that I had let my family down by dropping out of university and that they were disappointed in me,” said Carol.

“When my adopted dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, he made me promise to go back into education. He felt I could achieve more and he wanted me use to use what I’d gone through to help others with care experiences.

“I went back to college to do an HNC to get used to learning again as a mature student and went on to do a HND and was then able to progress to the Open University.

“My mum’s proud and I think my dad would have been, too. It’s also good for my kids to see that it’s never too late to change your focus. “I’m one of many people for whom the traditional university route didn’t fit and OU has made so much possible for me.”