To think it's not too late to make something of myself?

[Ponderingbetter]

I'm 28 with three young children, one of which is disabled but will be starting school full time this September. I dropped out of school before doing any GCSE's and didn't pursue any further education in the following years as to be honest my life was chaos, DV etc.. so I have no qualifications whatsoever.

I've had several jobs over the years but all are minimum wage or close to it. Retail, cleaning etc.

Recently I can't shake this urge I have to want to do better for my children, I want more from life than to be living from payday to payday and scraping by.

My dream, for as long as I can remember, has been to get into forensic psychology.

I've been looking into the open university today and talking to my friend who has just graduated in her mid 30's, I'm feeling really inspired.

AIBU to think maybe it's not too late, or is it a pipe dream at this stage?

And I'm a twat - just seen this is old thread 😳🙈

I'll get my coat 😳😳

Never too late. Look at access courses for foundational social sciences.

Go for it! As other posters have said. Call your local Further Education College and make an appointment to speak to their course advisors. They will have loads if options for you!

Good luck!

@OldSpeclkledHen noo you're not a twat! It was my fault I revived it!

28 is still very young! Believe me, I am 54 and I amazed I am this old already, life flies by, enjoy yourself and pursue your ambitions. The time at which most careers really take off (30s/40s) is when a high % of women are having babies and have small children these days. So once you get into your new career (even if it takes 5+ yrs) you will be well positioned to just be on an upward trajectory without interruptions due to having children. While colleagues may have very young children, yours will be teens and young adults. In fact I would train them in good habits and responsibilities now so that when you are working full-time in a demanding job they are used to sharing the burden of basic household chores. Lazy teens are the bugbear of many parents, keep them off screens and electronics and help them develop a range of interests (sports, music, art, reading, building, engineering).

It’s very common that people change their career at your age or later, it’s a rare person who knows exactly what they want to do in their early 20s.

It’s inspiring for your children to see their mother having many interests, studying and pursuing her dreams.

Of course you can. Look into access courses at a local college. They will help you through English and Maths GCSEs. If you want to do psychology you would also probably need biology and chemistry as it does get quite medical.

OU may not need you to even have those - I'm not sure.
There are some free online introductory courses on forensic psychology, including one with the Open University - link here

It would be worth doing two or three of these from different unis as they will all have different approaches. You could have a PhD within a decade, just studying part time.

Meanwhile, read up on it so you can sound knowledgable in your application. If you haven;t read them already, start with something like Forensic Psychology for Dummies and A Very Short Introduction to Forensic Psychology (both by David Canter).

There is also (some) accommodation at universities for students with families.

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/individual-needs/students-parenting-responsibilities

@CandlelightGlow ahhh thank you! you were being kind and following up on the OP then 😉😘