FULL TIME STUDENT SOCIAL STUDIES, LEVEL 5

MY personal experience of kwetb: Anne-Marie Russell

I always thought I would love to go back to education, but justifying the time and commitment necessary never seemed possible as I was busy raising four boys and fitting in a freelance career as a violinist.

I had done a B.Mus degree in the Royal College of Music in London back in the late ‘80s, but that seemed a lifetime away. Back then in the dim and distant past, there was no internet and research was done solely in the library. IT skills weren’t required, and we handed in hand-written essays!

Given the unsocial hours and travelling involved in being a freelance musician, I had long been thinking of a change of direction, but sometimes we need a jolt.

For me, as for many people, this jolt came in the form of the Coronavirus.

I remember sitting in the RTE canteen in March 2020 on the first day of rehearsals for “the Barber of Seville”, as rumours and speculation abounded. It was quite surreal.

Little did we know that normal live performance would cease for years, and that for many performing groups there would be no recovery.

This was the jolt I needed to explore other directions, and this is when I discovered KWETB.

On my doorstep, and with a good range of courses all within the school timetable, I kicked myself for not availing of them sooner!

The friendliness and openness of the Centre was palpable from the minute I stepped through the doors, but the thing I love most about the courses is the free discussion with the Tutors.

Robust exchange of ideas is possible in KWETB in a way that would be impossible in a more formal, distant university setting, which allows KWETB to provide a truly dynamic learning experience.

Initially I did the “Care of the Elderly” course, but this year I am doing the Social Studies course which I absolutely love.

This is an area I would love to explore further. It is fascinating and shines a light on so many of the dynamics in modern society.

For anyone considering returning to education, I think it is probably best expressed by Mahatma Gandhi;

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow,

Learn as if you were to live forever”.