A MUM who spent years dreaming of becoming a midwife has transformed her life after returning to education in her late twenties and forging a new career in healthcare.
Kristi Edwards left a job in retail to enrol at Coleg Cambria, taking the first steps towards a future in nursing and her long-held ambition of working in midwifery.
The former Access student returned to the classroom while balancing work, studies and family life.
“I left school unhappy with my results, had my children young and life took me in a different direction,” said Kristi, from Connah’s Quay.
“I enjoyed working in retail, but I had always wanted to be a midwife, so when I was 27 I decided to do something about it.”
Kristi did not have the Maths and English GCSEs she needed to follow that path, so enrolled on the Access to Healthcare programme at Cambria’s Deeside site in 2020.
Returning to education during the Covid pandemic brought added challenges, with remote learning alongside work and looking after her family.
“It was strange being back in education and I found Maths difficult, so I got a tutor to help me and eventually got there,” she said.
“I was studying during Covid, working and looking after my children, so there was a lot going on, but I had amazing support from my family and from Cambria.”
Kristi passed Maths and English, completed her Access programme in 2022 and progressed to the University of Chester, where she studied Adult Nursing.
She is now a community nurse at Neston Clinic and hopes to qualify as a midwife in the future.
“The team at Cambria were brilliant and some of the teaching was inspirational, I still refer back to things I learned there now,” said Kristi, who thanked fiancé Alan, mum Julie, dad Lee and children Lio and Paris for their support.
“I love working with people and caring for them, and I’m really enjoying community nursing. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and hopefully becoming a midwife will be the next chapter.
“I would definitely encourage other people to look at Access courses. It’s never too late. It opened doors for me that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.”
Coleg Cambria offers Access to Higher Education courses at Deeside and Yale, including Healthcare and Humanities and Social Sciences.
Natalie Connor, Vice Principal for Life Skills and Adult Studies, said: “Kristi is a fantastic example of where an Access course can lead. University might not have seemed an option for some people when they left school, but that doesn’t mean it can’t become one later in life.
“Access gives people another route into education and the opportunity to move towards the career they want.”
Curriculum Director Claire Howells added: “Many of our Access learners are juggling work, children and other responsibilities, so we understand returning to education is a big decision.
“Kristi’s story shows what can happen when someone takes that first step, and we hope it encourages others who may have been thinking about doing the same.”
