New mother sudden urge to complete MA after over a decade since BA - is this a thing that happens?

[Palmtreesandsunshine]

I’ve recently had a baby and things are settling down, baby is getting easier and others doing childcare will soon be possible. Suddenly I’ve developed an urge to complete the next stage of education, an MA, after over a decade of not doing things like that since BA.

Is this something that just happens? It’s a little inconvenient, I wish I had wanted to do this years ago. Especially since I want to get a good qualification from a good institution in London and I moved somewhere provincial for having a baby. So that means a 3 hour each way commute. Is it even possible?

I’d go part time. I’ve a great work ethic. I think it would help me get better quality jobs in future with higher pay. Also I think it’s something which would help my self confidence, as a mother, because I have felt disrespected by people since being with baby, as if people make assumptions i don’t have any career or intelligence.

Anyone else in the same boat/been there?

I did it, started a 3yr part time masters when my eldest was almost 1, found out I was pregnant again a couple of months into first year, so now I have 2 and still going.

It's hard, I also work full time. It's definitely possible if you're motivated. I had to lower my expectations, I wanted good grades, now I aim for a pass. It will be so worth it when it's done. You should 100% go for it, you will regret not trying

I'm doing it now, ten years later. I'm finding it MUCH MUCH harder, like my brain has got stupider over the years, but I'm glad I'm doing it!

Same as Rainbow, I am only aiming for Passes now and feel disappointed in myself. I got a first in my undergrad but that's miles out of reach for me now. But a masters is a masters, pass or distinction!

I had the urge too, at exactly the same time. Baby started sleeping through the night and (by chance) I suddenly had a lot more support from family. I felt full of energy and desperate to use my brain after six months pinned to a couch breastfeeding in a tired fog. Spent ages researching MAs and career stuff. Didn't do it in the end. Maternity leave ended and work started to fill up my brain again! At first I was determined I was going to achieve loads and be a super employee, but inevitably I got sucked into a rut again... Maybe New Year will get me thinking differently again!

Hi OP
I did a MSc in a medical sciences area in a similar scenario. Youngest was sleeping, eldest was using childcare.
It really helped me structure my days and have goals to look forward to break up the monotony of being at home.

One thing you mentioned re part time and commuting to London, I also had a similar thing but the university I attended had an online video recording option to listen to (and classes were only once a week to accommodate part time students) - the online thing was very useful for the uni when covid happened. Now I think a lot of universities still have an online option which will help you (ie when kids sick etc).

I enjoyed it! You should go for it

I taught with the OU and always told my students not to necessarily expect to be able to achieve at the same level as when they were undergraduates. I did my MA p/t with OU while working f/t and I had two children. You need to be organised.

I did a remote MA part-time while working full time. That was before kids, though. After my DS was born, I did another post-grad qualification, part-time over two years while working part-time. It was in-person but went remote due to Covid. DS was 2 when I finished - passed with Commendation!

So it's entirely possible. Explore remote options to save yourself the travelling and you can do it part-time working if that makes things easier financially.

I’d love to do a MA now. My only issue is I’d like to do it in Buddhist Studies so not necessarily helpful in me finding work after it. Anyone studying for fun and it helped them with their career?

My DS is 3mo and I've just started a Psychology MSc. I was spending a lot of time stuck on the sofa feeding, and wanted to do something to engage my brain during this time. My course is distance learning and part-time over 2 years. I am finding that I am able to do most of my studying on my phone, and only need an hour a day when I am at a computer to organise and review everything. So far today, I have done 2 hours during night feeds and one hour this morning while DS has been napping on me. It's definitely possible if you are organised, motivated and have a supportive partner.