I returned to education as a mature student and full time mum

After spending time as a full time mum, Lynda Porter was seeking professional and personal growth and decided to undertake postgraduate study at USW. Here she tells us how she found her return to education and how a thriving collaborative culture paired with supportive tutors and placement opportunities helped her develop her practice.

"After many years as a full-time mum and carer I took the opportunity to study when my situation changed. I returned to education as a mature student who had never studied at this level before.

After completing a Creative Industries (Photography) BA I was interested to discover the MA Arts Practice, Arts Health and Wellbeing course. Throughout my degree my interests were developing around the therapeutic experience of the landscape. The different modules within the MA develop different skills through research, experimentation and investigation and have helped me research and develop this concept alongside my artistic process and practice.

The course has enabled me to gain confidence in my abilities and to enjoy exploring how my professional practice might develop. An opportunity within a small module of the MA provided an exciting project within a local hospital. I recently saw the installation of my work, where landscape imagery improves the outlook for people living with dementia, their visitors and staff.

It was an exciting opportunity to engage with the professional world and gain experience and confidence through working on a project from beginning to end. This demonstrates how supportive and encouraging the course tutors are, directing students towards appropriate resources and opportunities. Through their wealth of experience as professional artists they are able to help students explore where their interests and ideas can fit into the professional world of arts, health and wellbeing."

Study MA Arts Practice, Arts, Health and Wellbeing at USW.