‘The perfect time doesn’t exist’

KAY-SIMONE MORRISON Edwards had already got married, started her family, and was quite comfortable selling clothing items to salons in the vicinity of her hometown of Old Harbour in St Catherine.

Though she understood the importance of a university education, it was not a goal she had. But when her daughter was 11 years old, she told The Gleaner that a desire was planted in her to achieve more and be an example to her child.

“I said to myself, she’s about to enter high school very soon, so after high school, the next part of the journey is we want them to go to university or college. And I said to myself, supposed she say’I don’t have to go to university or college, you didn’t go’, what would be my answer?”

Morrison Edwards, who was a 28-year-old at the time, said she decided that she would provide a favourable answer to that hypothetical question by enrolling at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, to pursue a degree in marketing in 2015.

The last time she had been in a classroom was 13 years before when she graduated from the Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha), and although she was “energetic and ready to dive into this new journey”, it didn’t take long for her to fully come to grasp with the magnitude of her decision and the will it took for her to adjust.

“It’s a quick-moving place. It’s not a babysitting place, so you are very much independent there. Along the way, what I realised, though, is that closed mouths don’t get fed, so I couldn’t be in my shell and then having issues with courses, and so forth … like I am not understanding and keeping it to myself,” she said.

“I had to balance because I am not only a student, I am a mother, and I am a wife. My husband is very supportive, but he is very traditional at the same time, and he had a very stressful job … so at times I had to step up when he was not there,” she said.

Morrison Edwards explained that she enrolled part time and would schedule her classes for three each week. She was also travelling with her clothing items and selling them on campus.

But she said that at first, her grades were not encouraging, and the stress of that was compounded when she got sick three years after she started and was later diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer.

Took a year off

Feeling overwhelmed, and doubting herself for her decision to attend university, she opted to take a year off.

When she returned, Morrison Edwards, who describes herself as a people person, formed a community, felt rejuvenated, and set out to improve her grades.

“What I did was do my introspection as usual and seh to myself, ‘how am I going to just move from mediocre to a B level or an A level’, and what I realised is that I had to apply myself,” she said.

As her grades improved, so did her confidence. Already, she has secured her first corporate job as a communications person and currently now works as a property manager.

On Saturday when Morrison Edwards’ degree is officially conferred, she will walk across the stage very cognisant of the fact that she is able to do so because of the support of her family and her faith in God.

“When I got it (the degree), I got up and I did a hallelujah shout! I was, like, ‘Jesus, your word is true. It never came back void!” she said.

And even though she acknowledges that the process of starting university may be difficult for mothers, the now 36-year-old mother of two is encouraging those who are considering it as a next step to ensure that they conduct thorough research and a have strategy before starting. But she gives the assurance that that is a decision that would lead to no regrets.

“You can do it, do it just like NIKE. The experience and the wealth of knowledge gained from the courses I did, lecturers and fellow students sharing their stories, I can’t put a price tag on that,” she said. “The perfect time doesn’t exist.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com