Mum of two who returned to college to restart her career and support her children celebrates uni spot to become a mental health nurse

A mother of two from Trethomas who returned to college as a mature learner so that she could retrain as a healthcare professional to better support her children is celebrating getting a spot at university.

Shelbi Mitchell, 28, took the plunge to return to college, joining Coleg y Cymoedd after a ten-year break from education, so that she could pursue her dreams of working in health care and provide a better life for her little ones, Oliver, (6), and Isabelle (2).

She is now looking forward to studying a degree in mental health nursing at the University of South Wales and hopes to inspire more young mothers to follow their career ambitions and let them know there are options to support them to do so.

The aspiring nurse had always wanted to work in healthcare, inspired by her mother’s own career in mental health nursing, but didn’t think it would be possible after such a long break from education and without the right qualifications, having worked in various hospitality roles since she originally left sixth form with no qualifications. Shelbi was also nervous to leave her daughter in pursuit of a new job and so decided to put ideas of a career change to the back of her mind.

That was until, one day, Shelbi got talking to one of the other mothers at her son’s school, finding out that she had studied a Level 2 Access course at Coleg y Cymoedd and that support was available to learners with young children to enable them to study.

Finally feeling like she might be able to start the journey towards her dream career, Shelbi took a leap of faith and successfully applied for the Level 2 Diploma in further Skills course at Coleg y Cymoedd – which is designed to help those with no qualifications gain equivalent academic skills to provide further education and job opportunities.    

Having spent more than 10 years working as a waitress in local pubs in the Caerphilly area, Shelbi was worried she would find it hard to adjust to her studies and wouldn’t be able to cope with the workload alongside being a mother to her children.

Shelbi said: “It was terrifying joining the course initially. I think I definitely suffered a bit of imposter syndrome and worried that I wasn’t capable of balancing my life as a mother and as a learner in college.

“As a mum, it’s difficult to be selfish and do things for yourself. I was worried about being away from Isabelle while she was so young – I didn’t want to miss out on these precious years of her life, but as soon as I started the course, my fears melted away. The tutors were so supportive and understanding of my situation.”

During her time on the access course at college, Shelbi studied subjects including Maths, Biology, Sociology, Psychology, Communications and Health Studies. She has now moved on to Level 3 Access to Higher Education in Healthcare which will provide her with the equivalent of three A levels on completion.

Supported by staff at the college, Shelbi was inspired to apply for a university degree in the career she’s always dreamed of – mental health nursing.

Shelbi added: “If you had told me two years ago that I would go on to not only apply for university but receive an unconditional offer to study towards my dream career, I probably would’ve laughed. It just goes to show that support and encouragement from others goes along way.

“I’m so grateful to Coleg y Cymoedd and for everything they’ve done for me and my family – even if I hadn’t got an offer to go to university or decided it wasn’t the path for me, this course has opened so many career doors for me and boosted my confidence so much.

“I’m so glad I can be a role model to my two children and show them that you can do anything you put your mind to and always to take those leaps of faith, no matter how scary they seem. Oliver is proud as punch about my university offer, he goes into school with the Coleg y Cymoedd pens and water bottles I come home with and says, ‘this is from a college, and my mum is going to be a nurse!’ Making my children proud and being able to provide for them makes this all the more worth it.”

 Discover Access to Higher Education courses at Coleg y Cymoedd: https://www.cymoedd.ac.uk/courses/access-to-higher-education/

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