My life as a student and a single mum

I was 18 when I realised I was pregnant. 

I was halfway through a BTEC, went out drinking every weekend and the majority of week nights. It’s safe to say I was more scared than I’d ever been in my entire life.

My first reaction was denial. I refused to accept I was having a baby and kept drinking like nothing was wrong, in fact I drank even more. Then one of my friends metaphorically slapped me in the face and said: “Look you know you’re pregnant, there’s no point denying it, just accept it and deal with it before it’s too late.”

That was the night I poured the rest of my wine on the floor and gave up drinking for nine months.

Just an average 18 year old girl

Switching to a different kind of bottle

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I struggled my way through pregnancy and the rest of my course – somehow wrangling myself a place in Liverpool John Moores University. At first I was really scared everyone would judge me for being so young and a single mother, so I was really shy and didn’t talk to anyone for ages. Then I don’t really know what happened. I just started accepting it was part of who I was, and if people didn’t like it then fuck them, I was at uni to get a degree at the end of the day.

I started being more myself and realised the people I met at uni weren’t like the ones I’d known in the past, they were nicer and more accepting. Once I’d got past the confidence barrier, I had to face the workload and my young baby barrier – my daughter Niamh was only four months old when I started my degree. This barrier was one hell of a hard one, but I have a really supportive family, very good childcare, and the ability to run on very little sleep when I have to, which comes in handy during deadlines.

Nothing can keep this girl from going out on the big nights

Who wouldn’t want the best for this little cutie?

I just worked in the day time, came home, saw Niamh, maybe worked some more, and occasionally even managed to go out and have a life with my friends, which helped with the whole stir-craziness and made me feel like a normal student again. I have had my fair share of all-nighters in the library and still love a good party.

The workload is difficult to manage at times, especially now I’m in second year. But I just do it, because I don’t really have a choice in the matter. The way I see it, with today’s job market, a good degree will get you far in life, and I want a good job to support my daughter – so I just do it… with insane amounts of help from my friends and family.