Karen Ross
Primary School in Auchtermuchty consisted of many happy years. The teachers were great and I made a lot of friends. Secondary School wasn’t as good. There were some great teachers, but others that were less so and I only seemed to do well in classes where I liked the teacher, other subjects became a chore. I left school at 17 with a mixture of qualifications and joined a YT scheme in a travel agents. I then went to work as a receptionist at an Opticians, but there weren’t any further career prospects and I started to think about going to College.
I can’t remember how long it took me between thinking about it and doing it, but I enrolled at Glenrothes College (now Adam Smith) to do an HNC in Administration and Information Management. I did well and gained a lot of confidence so I decided to carry on and went to the University of St Andrews where I completed a General Master of Arts degree with distinction.
Do you want to do it? If so, go for it! It’s hard work, but it can be done, and there were plenty of others on part-time courses who had more to juggle than me! If you start and find it difficult don’t just drop out, ask for support, there is usually plenty available
During my studies I got a job in the International Office at the University processing applications, then moved to the Student Recruitment side of things where I became more involved in the administration for visitors to the University, while assisting in student recruitment events at home and abroad. Although it wasn’t an essential requirement to have a degree I recently moved job to the Bute Medical School at the University where I am an administrative assistant, and I think my academic achievements helped. I believe in myself much more than I did before. I developed time management skills at College and University as I had to create a healthy home/work/study balance, and I now know how determined I can be as sometimes I had to make myself complete assignments that were due when the ideas just wouldn’t come. I’ve also met many different people with opinions that differed from my own, which was enriching. Just because you disagree doesn’t make you wrong. Another benefit of learning was gaining a sounder knowledge of Scotland’s history, which gives me a new understanding of the world around me.