'I would say to someone who was thinking about nursing and really wanted to do it, I would say go for it. Definitely, because you might always regret never having tried. It's possible, I've proved it.

The experiences I have had at university have shown me that I have made the right choice. There's loads of things that I haven't done yet that I still need to learn but I feel I have the confidence now to go ahead and find out.'

'At the beginning of the course, you don't feel very confident. I don't know whether that's because you are a mature student and many of the other students are younger that you feel a little bit different perhaps, and feel that you have more of a challenge on your hands.

However, as time goes on, you realise that all the experience you've had, things that have gone on previously in your life, are beneficial to you and help you out on the course and especially on placement. How to communicate with people is one of the main things. For example, with being on Child Branch, I have come to realise that a lot of my communication is with families, and it's knowing what to say to parents and how to say it, how you come across, that's important.

Once you get past that first year, you have proved to yourself that you are able to study again because for most mature students it's been a long time since they were in a classroom. That's where the Access course helps. At first, the thought of writing an essay was terrifying but now I'd love to have an essay of only a thousand words. You progress. It becomes easier as you go on.

What has helped me on this course is that the longer I am on it, the more I feel the benefit of practice and the more I am enjoying it. There is always someone you can go to for help. The worst thing was finding how I could go about applying for a course in nursing, and then thinking about the four years of study including the Access course. It all seemed really daunting.

I didn't know how I would feel on that first day on the Access course but from day one I loved it. Everyone was in the same boat. We were all mature students. That made you feel a bi t more at ease. We were all in the same situation, we hadn't studied for years and a lot of us had families.

Now I feel I can face any new challenges. Nursing is full of challenges. No situation is the same. Every child is different. That's what keeps me stimulated to carry on.'