I continue to work, albeit part time, not because I have to, but because I want to. I work because I now have the chance to improve some people’s lives and because I can buy more music, have an extra holiday, drink a bottle of decent wine rather than the cheapest plonk. I’m lucky. I think I have deserved my good luck because I worked for nearly 40 years in the civil service, the last twenty very much on the front line. Is it now the time to do something completely different and, arguably, completely barking?
My scholastic career was a disaster. I am virtually bereft of meaningful qualifications and, if I am being honest, lacking in many basic skills. This is not a self-pitying cry of desperation: these are simple facts. It’s whether I still have enough time to learn something new?
A part time degree course would see me graduating sometime in my seventies. This would leave previous little time to do anything with that degree, always assuming – and this is by no means certain – that I am bright enough to earn a degree. Not many people start a successful new career shortly before they die of old age.
It was not a shock to find just how much it costs to study these days. I have sons who are, or have been, at university. I was appalled at how much debt they, as working class boys, would owe in tuition fees and now it’s my turn to be appalled about me. It is entirely possible that my late quest for further education could be thwarted because I am not wealthy enough, as well as probably being too old.
As I try to rebuild my life following last year’s breakdown, I am trying lots of new stuff. That difficult second book is underway, last weekend we were away with friends in Yorkshire. Confidence is slowly returning, although I still cannot face large gatherings and I don’t like to leave my comfort zone of home unless I have to. Adult education is currently nothing more than a tiny seed, perhaps in the middle distance, or perhaps it won’t happen at all. I suppose it is something that I am even thinking that far ahead. Whether it comes to anything, who knows?
