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  • I think for me, my life never stops.

  • You know, I'm always on the go.

  • I've got four children.

  • It can get quite interesting;

  • it can get stressful.

  • On Sunday, we go to church.

  • Church has become

  • very much a part of our lives.

  • It's given us a social life.

  • When we get back from church,

  • we do three sets of washing.

  • We get homework out of the way.

  • We get violin practice out of the way.

  • Sometimes, you just need somewhere

  • to just go and be you,

  • and have a quiet moment.

  • And my garden is my sanctuary window.

  • Sometimes, I just sit there,

  • you know, and listen to

  • the birds and think how far I've come,

  • you know, despite all the odds.

  • I'm currently studying

  • children's literature

  • and it's my final year of studying.

  • The project I did

  • is part of my distance learning course.

  • It's about children's literature, say, from

  • the beginning of when people started

  • to write for children,

  • and how it's evolved

  • over the years.

  • You choose a question,

  • and then you sort of bring

  • together all the assignments

  • that you've done.

  • The length of the project is

  • different from

  • the normal assignments:

  • it's twice the normal assignments.

  • It's involved a lot of online research,

  • a lot of group discussions, and

  • media research, which

  • I find difficult.

  • You get placed within a group,

  • and then you choose

  • a book, and then you discuss it.

  • If you choose a book that's been made into

  • a film, you also

  • have to look at the film;

  • look at the reviews

  • and the criticisms it's had,

  • and then you compare and contrast it.

  • I did online research on various criticisms,

  • but the majority of it was writing:

  • I did a lot of writing.

  • You have an introduction.

  • You have your body and the conclusion.

  • For me, it was a big challenge.

  • Fortunately for me, my group

  • were very supportive.

  • With an assignment sometimes,

  • I can sit there in one day and write it.

  • In writing a project,

  • you've got enough time to do it.

  • You get somebody to read it for you

  • to see that it makes sense

  • and I don't often get to do

  • that with my assignments.

  • I suffer from sickle cell disease:

  • it's a genetic illness,

  • so it constantly makes me anaemic.

  • I haven't got an immune system

  • because of that,

  • so I tend to spend a fair bit of

  • time in hospital.

  • Distance learning has been

  • good for me because it has

  • reduced that travelling

  • to university, and

  • your disability shouldn't limit you.

  • So, you're here to dictate to that

  • disability and not the other way around.

  • Currently, I work as a teaching assistant.

  • On a daily basis,

  • my job is very interesting;

  • no one day is the same.

  • I do love my job.

  • I think the children bring

  • the best out of

  • me, and hopefully I bring

  • the best out of them as well.

  • After I've graduated, I hope

  • to train as a primary school teacher,

  • come out as a professional

  • despite all my difficulties,

  • and make my children proud.

  • Go the distance.

I think for me, my life never stops.

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