Lone parent doing a masters degree

Hi, My name is Shan

For the past three years I have been working towards a degree in History at the University of Derby. I decided to go back into education in 2015 after having my son at the age of 21. At the time of having him I was a temp and had no career prospects.

I have raised my son completely alone, which has been a blessing but also a huge financial burden. So being a student and a lone parent has meant that I have had to be incredibly careful with money to make ends meet. But i have been determined to show him that i can be the best mum and that anything is possible if you work hard.

This year i was all set to graduate and get my dream job in a museum. And then covid hit. So now i may not get a graduation, I'm homeschooling my son and have no chance of finding a job in this climate. That is why i have decided to continue on at uni and study for a master's degree in public history.

However, the loan to cover this year of uni means i will be about 6,000 worse off this year.

My son was born 8 weeks early and i have done several charity events (including running a 10k) to fundraise for neonatal care. And so i know how important fundraising can be, and hoped it would help to create some stability for us in this coming year so that i can continue to raise money for others later.

Thank you for reading!