10/05/2026
The results are out… and I got a 2:1 🎉✨Upper Second Class Honours, baby!!! A fully qualified nurse!
Honestly, I’m over the moon. All that hard work finally paid off, literally the hardest graft I have ever done in my life!
Doing this degree whilst running my business meant making some huge sacrifices. I downsized the business, moved workspaces and moved to a studio flat just to take some of the pressure off. There were early mornings, late nights, night shifts, and barely any social life for years 😅.
Around 680 hours a year of unpaid NHS placements, being treated like free labour half the time, biting my tongue more times than I can count, crying in toilets and experiencing both the best and worst moments of people’s lives. But also having the privilege of helping make someone’s day just that little bit brighter and with compassion. Doing this alongside running my business, treatments, study and placement felt like the biggest juggle, keeping all those balls up in the air has been hard.
I still remember my very first placement shift as a student nurse. I was absolutely petrified 😂 A lovely male HCA took me under his wing because I was SO lost and completely wet behind the ears. Slowly, my knowledge grew. I started understanding why people were sick, why they were getting sicker and what I needed to do to help. I finally understood the language doctors and nurses were speaking and over time my confidence grew too.
Eventually, I stopped feeling like an outsider and started feeling like I truly belonged in the teams I worked in. Nursing gave me something I didn’t even realise I was missing: purpose. Losing my business during COVID affected me far more deeply than I realised at the time. Looking back now, I can see how lost I really was. But every sacrifice I’ve made over these last few years turned out to be the best investment I could’ve made — not only for myself, but for my lovely clients at The London Dolls too. I’m now able to keep striving for the best treatments, safety, and care possible. I can’t wait for this fresh new start and what the future holds.
The imposter syndrome is out the door! I’m really bloody proud of myself 🥹🎉 📣