Elaine Lyons
For over 15 years, Elaine Lyons had three part-time jobs – as a cleaner, a barmaid and a home help – while she was bringing up her three children.
Elaine left school with only a few CSEs and had not studied for over 20 years until she was sent on a mandatory training course for her role as a cleaner at Liverpool John Moores University. After this she realised that there were lots of opportunities to learn more. Elaine had always wanted to be a nurse and, thanks to encouragement from tutors at work, she took the plunge and enrolled on a three-year nursing course.
“I was encouraged to study for an NVQ Level 2 and then NVQ Level 3, and they gave me an appetite for learning that I’d never had before,” she said. “A supervisor told me to go for it and apply to the university on their Nursing Diploma course – it was my lifelong ambition.’’
“I was so nervous and anxious at the beginning, but in October 2008 I completed the diploma. The sense of achievement was wonderful; I felt like I’d climbed a mountain. I am a completely different person now.”
Elaine now works full time as a nurse and continues to promote learning opportunities amongst students and colleagues. “I have a job that I love and I’m able to give something back, and it’s all down to having had the courage to return to learning.”