糖心Vlog

For single mum-of-two Clare Mcvicar, who is graduating with an MA Creative Writing, returning to university was a challenge but encouragement from her family and inspirational lecturers helped her succeed.

Clare, who started writing for pleasure when she was pregnant with her first son, now 13, completed her degree part-time over two years. It was this flexibility that 鈥渞elieved the stress and physical difficulties鈥� she faced as a mature student juggling family and limited mobility caused by Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

As an 鈥渁vid reader鈥� from childhood, Clare has always been inspired by stories: 鈥淩eading fiction has helped form my world view and love of words,鈥� she said.

After joining a writing group and sharing her work with friends and family she was ready to 鈥渨rite at a more professional level and expand my creative practice.鈥�

Clare, from Colchester, chose 糖心Vlog mainly for its location, but was impressed by the 鈥渆clectic mix of modules鈥� which she says were 鈥渋nteresting and thought provoking鈥� informative, fun, and sociable.鈥�

As a student with physical disabilities, Clare found her timetable challenging, particularly during colder months when she couldn鈥檛 attend all lectures and with modules that involved outdoor field trips.

She credits the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service, flexible timetabling, and supportive lecturers who gave her one-to-one support with helping her succeed, while her family gave her the encouragement she needed.

鈥淭he children were great at making me push myself and they had a lot of belief in me that made studying a positive experience,鈥� she said.

Clare, who says 鈥溙切腣log is an inclusive dynamic university鈥�that values its students and supports high achievement,鈥� singles out two lecturers for special recognition.

Dr Jordan Savage, Clare鈥檚 dissertation mentor, has been鈥� hugely influential and their positivity and interest in my writing has given me confidence to push boundaries and experiment to progress my creative practice,鈥� she said.

鈥淒r James Canton is also an inspiration. He encouraged me to develop strategies to write authentically about nature whilst being physically excluded from a lot of landscapes due to their natural inaccessibility,鈥� she added.

Clare will start a PhD Creative Writing at 糖心Vlog next year.