Thanks Hasbeen and Poirot, I'm looking forward to it and a little daunted. It's a four year program and pretty academically dense.

I was very encouraged by the response to my enquiries. The course convenor was emphatic that I should enrol, because of my background in the physical sciences and possibly my age and gender. He made a cryptic reference to "people who can write", so he may have seen some of the stuff I've published elsewhere under my own name if he did a google search. At least it didn't scare him off!

I suspect that the student body is disproportionately female and young, which is fine in itself, but doesn't reflect the demographics of those in need of mental health services and they are probably not bringing a lot of experiential knowledge to frame their understanding of the topic.

I'm not too interested in clinical practice, more in academic social research, but I guess they inform each other.

I'm not sure if I need rehab or a refurb, but in the meantime I'm still getting older at one day per day.

Dear Antiseptic,

Now that is exciting news and Congratulations.
I wish you every possible success.

I was a "mature-age" student and I remember my
Graduation to this day. When they called my name
and I walked up on stage - I little voice yelled
out from the balcony - "That's MY Mum!"
The entire auditorium cheered. Quite a moment.

Anti, I also remember how nervous I was when I first
started attending classes. I thought - how will I
cope amongst all these young kids. Well, much to my
surprise I found that there was a very wide age range
and I actually fitted in very well. I also learned
so much in the process.

Anyway, once again - this is an excellent thing you're
doing - you'll never regret it, and again I wish you
all the best and kudos to you.

Big hug.

Yes good luck to you Antiseptic, although I hope you know how tough it will be?
When do you start?

I did a psychology subject, amongst the other medical subjects, when I went back to Uni in my early 30's.

Psychology didn't provide as much answers as it did questions, but it was very interesting. I found myself thinking...'is that me?'...when reading about some disorders.
Although, maybe that is purely a nurse thing.

In any case, it will do you good to mix with all those supposedly many 'feminists' at the Uni : )
What on earth will academic-hating Individual say? Lol!

Thanks Lexi. Since I'm an arrogant so-and-so, I'm more concerned for how they'll fit in with me! I'm only half-joking...

Actually, I'm really quite excited. I've got a lot of ideas I want to test and the only way to do that is by acquiring the skills and credentials to allow me access to the resources that make it possible.

I think Poirot is absolutely correct in what she said about the current gender relations model. Lots of people are starting to realise that their life isn't all it's cracked up to be and that will accelerate rapidly as the subsidies dry up. I think of it as a chemical process. It takes a lot of energy to break a stable bond and it takes a lot more energy to keep the atoms separated. Social energy is in the form of money and that's running out.

There are going to be a lot of unhappy people over the next few years.

Suse, thanks. I'm sure it'll be interesting. The thing about learning is that it should inspire questions, which then require more learning to answer.

Fortunately, I enjoy learning and I have a framework that I can fit the new knowledge into that should help.

My only real concern is financial. I've informed my boss and he is receptive to cutting back my hours to suit, but it may not be reasonable in the context of business needs, so I might be left a bit short for a while. Time will tell.

I'll try not to do too much feminist-baiting. I think the poor things will be sufficiently traumatised by my presence and I wouldn't want them to suffer any mental health problems.

Great news! You'll meet a lot of people who think they have all the answers. Some of them will be students; others will be lecturers and tutors. You'll have the advantage of age and experience, but if you're ever daunted by what they say and do (or how they treat you), remember that intelligent people can see through their bluffing. As a first-year law student, terrified of all those who seemed to know so much more than me, I received some encouraging words from a kind tutor. She reminded me that, as these people were studying the same courses as me, they didn't necessarily know what they were talking about. They just talked in order to fill silence.

Oh, and ignore the precocious twits who roll their eyes every time you (a mature-aged student) ask a question. I was one of them, and wish I'd listened to the questions and answers more carefully. I did just fine in my studies, but I've learnt as I have grown older that my seniors are much more experienced in formulating insightful questions that get the answers we all need. You're paying enough for your studies, so you certainly deserve answers to your questions.

I hope you're as lucky as I was Antiseptic.

I left to go fly fighters, & came back after flying. Back then you had to pay up front, then keep yourself. The first bit was OK, but I was running out of money. I had previous credits, & some from my navy training, & needed what was usually about 18 months to do. They let me cram that into a year.

Every time things got tight, I always found something someone wanted done, that gave me another couple of months living. I was always looking, & some how something always turned up.

One of them became permanent as soon as I had finished, & then grew into something much better quite quickly. So my advice is keep your eyes open, & things seem to work out.