Billy Watt
I grew up in Glasgow and attended the Hills Trust Primary School in Govan, which used relatively unorthodox teaching methods. The classrooms were all open plan and an emphasis was placed on self-expression with regular drama classes. All of this was unusual in 1980s Glasgow, but it worked for me. Secondary School was a nightmare. Through a family break-up I lost touch with my mother in my 1st year, and although I was at a good school, my behaviour and studies took a nosedive as I completely disengaged. My father was a sail-maker in the shipyards and he’d drummed it into me that getting a trade was the most important thing in the universe. So after I left school at 16 I was considered one of the lucky ones when I got a welding apprenticeship at the Govan shipyard Kvaerner. I didn’t really enjoy it, but I finished my four years.
Soon after I was made redundant, but was offered a welding job in London on my twenty-first birthday. I lived down South for two years and travelled around eventually coming to Dundee on a six-week contract with a fabrication firm. I relished being back in Scotland and decided to stay. I met my wife and had a son, but being a welder meant I always had to travel and was constantly chasing work, and what I wanted to do was stay at home with my family. So I tried my hand at other things working in bars, call centres and factories, and although I always made a living I was never happy. I knew I was capable of a lot more, but felt I’d never been given the chance. I thought about education for about six months, before starting a programme at the University of Dundee called Discovering Degrees, which made me realise that University could be a possibility for someone like me even though I had minimal academic qualifications. So I enrolled on the University Summer School and got in to study Law.
Take a chance. I feel now that I really didn’t have anything to lose. Before trying education I was a welder and if it hadn’t worked out I’d still have been a welder, but it did work out and now I’m a lawyer.
I’m quite proud that virtually the only qualification I have is an LLB (Hons) in Scots Law! I’ve since gone on to postgraduate study and have secured a legal traineeship with Thorntons LLP in Dundee. I had to work while I was studying, but it’s made a huge difference to my life. Before going to University I always felt it was the working classes against the snobs, but now I’ve met people from different backgrounds and cultures and realise that people from all walks of life have similar goals and ambitions and I’ve lost that massive chip on my shoulder and gained so much more.