Graduation

Today was the culmination of over five years with the Open University. It might be a cliché but it's still true to say that the OU has taken me on a journey I never imagined I would end up on.
Six years ago, the chance remark of a friend lead me to check out courses on the OU website and I became hooked. Taking the opportunity to explore my creative writing whilst bringing up a family on my own has somehow brought me to the stage of the Usher Hall all these years later.
I've learnt so much, visiting the gloomy corners of Wuthering Heights, discovering the Jazz poetry that wafted out of Harlem and living for a year with the irresistible but enigmatic Will Shakespeare. Most of all I've discovered a desire to write plays. If it wasn't for the OU and the encouragement of one of my tutors I would not be spending the next two years tackling an MSc at Edinburgh Uni.
In the organised chaos of family life, study is an oasis, an excuse to switch off, to find characters and stories that at first took my mind off my own story but ultimately helped to shape it.
Anyway, here I am. And here I am with my friend Gail who helps to sum it all up with this photo, probably my favourite of the day. You are never too late to find things out about yourself and you are never too old to learn. Never.