It can be a rollercoaster experience; moments of pride and elation, and that special ‘wow I’ve got this’ feeling, mixed with high levels of stress during assessment times or when my personal life intruded on my study. Overall, I feel pride and I feel empowered from studying … My feelings of pride and empowerment come from achieving success in my study … and feeling like I have a skill and ability that I did not know I had before. I feel like I have found who I am and realised my potential – my world has opened since I started studying and while it is stressful I know I am working towards something I enjoy. (Linda)