Mary Heron made the decision to change her life and start studying at South Lanarkshire College in 2016. She had been out of education for some time and was looking for a course that would give her the skills she needed to progress to University to study her dream course in Social Science and Psychology.
After chatting with the South Lanarkshire College team, Mary embarked on our SWAP Access to Teaching and Social Science course (formerly known as Access to Humanities). Mary loved her time on the course saying: “the lecturing staff were really supportive and encouraging. They worked hard to ensure all students became independent learners, which was great and made me realise I’d like to continue at the College to complete my HND”.
Following her success on the SWAP programme, Mary progressed to our HND in Social Science, Mary enthused “I completed my HND at the College in 2019, and was awarded the prize for HND Social Science Student of the Year in the same year. The completion of the HND may have been the end of my college journey, but I certainly wasn’t finished with education and learning. I was delighted to gain direct entry to third year at the University of the West of Scotland where I started studying for a BA in Social Sciences. I am currently in fourth year at UWS and hope to fulfil my dream this year of gaining joint honours in Social Science and Psychology”.
Mary has been supporting her education by working as a sports writer and presenter on a media show reporting and interviewing female footballers. Mary said ” I am working with Scottish Football Association and the grass roots team to develop women’s football. My mission is to encourage girls to start playing the beautiful game”.
Mary continued “I have also started my own business in Life Coaching and Motivational Speaking to encourage others to have the self-belief to make a change to their lives.
Mary said she’s passionate about working in schools with anti-bullying groups and she’s developed motivational strategies to help young people through difficult times.
Mary continued “South Lanarkshire College gave me the strategies I needed to kick start my learner journey. I loved studying at the College and really enjoyed participating in class discussion although I think the most important lesson I learned was the gift of self-belief. It’s allowed me to progress in education and helped me to believe that I can achieve the goals that I set out for my future.
I appreciate all of the skills gained at the College and I’m always proud to tell others that I started my journey at South Lanarkshire College before moving to University.
Mary concluded “I am hopeful that following my degree, that I get the chance to study at Master’s level. My time at the College as has instilled a thirst in me to continue my future learning”.