Hazel, 56, from England, spent much of her working life as a Systems Administrator. Here she shares her fascinating journey with learning, how FutureLearn became a form of self-therapy and helped her to rediscover her personality after a difficult period.
“My love of learning and thirst for knowledge began early. I was the type of child that irritated adults with constant questions. You know the sort of thing “why is the sky blue?”, “why do insects have six legs?”, “how do whales breathe?” I couldn’t wait to join my older siblings in that magical place called school, where I would meet lots of other children and learn about all sorts of things. When the day came, I skipped merrily away down the little path that led to the playground, unwittingly leaving my mum hurt at the fact that I didn’t even look back and wave goodbye; such was my enthusiasm for the adventure. There I discovered art and literature in one glorious moment; Rousseau’s painting of a tiger with Blake’s poem underneath, which decorated the classroom wall. Music, through recorder lessons, and then languages, through being taught French from the age of 7, served to confirm that I was right about school. By the age of 12, I was writing and directing plays, putting them on at lunchtime to raise money for charities. Strangely, I even loved being given homework, because it was all part of the learning adventure.
My love of the theatre continued when I went on to study for my degree. Looking back, I have no idea where I found the time to study English and Anthropology, run the drama society, direct plays while acting in others at the same time, and still having the normal social life that goes with being a student, but I’m glad I did. Working in I.T. and the long commute to work put an end to the am-dram, but I used the daily train journey to learn languages and indulge my love of world literature. My briefcase was more of a mini library than a receptacle for paperwork! Eventually, a change in career brought an end to the commuting, as the lure of country life was too hard to resist, but I always found time to feed my yearning to learn new things. All this was to change when a traumatic experience left me questioning everything I believed about the world and other people. I didn’t know it at the time, but as the months went by and my physical injuries healed, I was to be left with a legacy that would be far harder to deal with. The loss of confidence, the all-pervading anxiety and chronic depression were not just a simple reaction to being out in the world again; I was diagnosed with PTSD. Isolation, lack of motivation and ongoing prejudice from members of the local community only served to exacerbate the condition. A support worker, in an effort to combat my isolation, encouraged me to make short regular trips to my local library (somewhere that felt safe). It was during one of these visits that a librarian mentioned FutureLearn to me. She brought up the site on her screen and scrolled through the list of courses. I was amazed and immediately hooked. At first, I was too nervous to take any sort of active part, through the comments section, but one day curiosity got the better of me and I took a peek at what was going on. Before I knew it, I had posted a comment myself. I can’t remember what it was; I just remember the feeling of anxiety as soon as I had done it. I’m so glad I took that simple step though because I have had so many fascinating, inspiring and at times funny, exchanges with both my fellow students and tutors. Little did I know that that simple act of kindness at my local library was to be a turning point for me. FutureLearn soon became a powerful item in my self-therapy toolkit, for so many reasons. It provides goals to aim for that are meaningful to me. It gives and sustains a renewed sense of confidence; the sense that I do have abilities and that I have something valuable to contribute. It connects me to a wonderful amazing bunch of people from across the world when I would otherwise be completely isolated. The positive experiences I have on the various courses provide me with daily proof that there are actually good people in the world. The sense of enrichment from the wide variety of courses I have been able to study is quite phenomenal. I thought I had lost the person I once was. Through FutureLearn I have discovered that this is not the case. The chuckling, inquisitive, creative woman hadn’t gone; she was still in there somewhere. It’s a long journey, there are no magic wands, but thanks to my experiences with FutureLearn, the me-that-was is becoming the me-that-is again.”
Inspired by Hazel’s story?
Take a look at a few of the courses she values:
Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
Introduction to Italian
Shakespeare and His World
England in the Time of Richard III
Cultural Studies and Modern Languages
Or browse all FutureLearn courses.