5 tips to writing a great library based dissertation

Writing any type of dissertation can be a very daunting task and for me, I was absolutely terrified of the whole idea as I just felt that it was something that only really smart academics could achieve, so I had a battle with my mind before I had even started. Most dissertations require the student to conduct a research study and collect the data themselves, but for a social work degree, you can choose to either do the former or to undertake a library based dissertation which is what I chose to do.

Five lessons learned from being a mature student

Being nearly at the end of a full-time social work degree, I thought that I would share some advice from what I learnt during my experience, for anyone considering returning to study.

1) It is not too late!

I hear so many people say that they wish that they could have gone to uni, but it is too late for them now. It is never too late to invest in yourself and your future. Many people return to uni as mature students so you will not be alone, particularly if you are studying a subject like social work, where at least fifty percent of my year group were mature students. 

My uni journey as a mature student on a social work degree

For new readers, I will start from the beginning! So, I originally started a degree in social work in 2005. Unfortunately, I did not get to complete the degree as I became ill in the second year and I was later diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). After a long period of illness and many difficulties, I was finally well enough to return to the degree in 2014. As I had been away so long and so much had changed over the years, I was told that I would need to start from the beginning so I started year one again in September 2014.