Jenny Gilligan
For Jenny Gilligan, her graduation is the third big life achievement in as many years. Jenny has not only earned a First Class Honours degree through the University of Worcester, but also got married and become a mother.
Jenny began studying for her BA (Hons) Integrated Working with Children and Families (top up) at Worcester in 2021, as a part time student, while working full time at an inner-city primary school in Birmingham. In her first year, of studies she managed work, study, being a class representative and planning her own wedding, all at the same time.
In year two, Jenny continued to succeed with her studies and found that she was expecting a baby. But she continued to work hard even taking part in dissertation supervision sessions from her bed via Teams up until the day before giving birth.
“My pregnancy wasn’t the smoothest, with several hospital admissions and feeling unwell for the most part,” she said. “In the end I felt I had no choice but to apply for mitigating circumstance to be able to achieve my best grade. However, I started my maternity leave and was determined to get everything submitted by the original deadline as I’d worked so hard up until now and wanted to get it done for my baby girl and so that I could concentrate on her. She definitely gave me the motivation to get it done.”
Reflecting on her graduation Jenny said: “I feel super proud of myself for being able to complete the course whilst balancing home and work life, planning a wedding and having a baby,” she said. “I’ve worked really hard for this. I plan to continue my studies by doing my teacher training in the near future.”
The University’s annual autumn Graduation Ceremonies will take place as planned from September 12-14 in the beautiful and historic Worcester Cathedral followed by celebration receptions at the City Campus. No Worcester graduates have been affected by the marking and assessment boycott.
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