Graduating student who left school without GCSEs due to ill health finds her “calling in life”

A mature student who once dreamed of becoming a doctor, but missed out on sitting her GCSEs due to illness, says returning to university to study something completely different helped her see that everything happens for a reason.

Hannah Stansfield, 27, from Liverpool, will graduate from the BA (Hons) Textile Design course at Cardiff Metropolitan University this week – a passion she discovered while unwell that has become her dream career.

Hannah said: “I had always wanted to be a doctor. But when I was in year 11, at the age of 16, I became unwell and ended up leaving school without the required GCSEs to apply to medical school.

“While I was poorly, I found weaving and sewing to be the only things I had motivation to do. It became very therapeutic to me during this time. For five years pretty much the only thing I had energy for was embroidery.”

Reflecting on coming to university as a mature student and doing something totally different to what she thought she would study when younger, Hannah said: “I have really loved the course and because I was older, I was certain I knew what I wanted to do, and I have knuckled down as a result. Coming back to university as a mature student has actually made the university experience better as I have been so focused.

“My advice for other students who have found themselves on a different path to where they thought they would be is, you will get to where you are meant to be when the time is right for you. It doesn’t matter when you do it.”

Laura Edmunds, Lecturer in Textiles at Cardiff Metropolitan University, said: “It has been a pleasure to teach Hannah and watch her grow in confidence. Her curiosity and love of historical textiles has been a joy to observe as she finds her true passion. She's worked consistently hard throughout and pushed herself out of her comfort zone whilst studying, she should be exceptionally proud of herself.”

Hannah added: “I am a firm believer that everything happens in life for a reason and I am right where I am meant to be now. My goal was to be a medical doctor when I was younger -and my goal is still to become a doctor, but now it is to be a doctor of textiles. I have found my calling in life.”

Hannah is now looking to apply for jobs in London and would like to go on to complete a master’s in textile conservation, eventually working in a gallery or museum.