ABSTRACT
A number of students told me of events which had been unexpected and/or had created a major change in their lives, which had made each of them reassess her life and needs and what she wanted to do. For example, Deidre talked of divorce and a major operation and Liz told me of serious injury. Joy, Olga and Leila talked about their redundancy from jobs which they found less than fulfilling, which gave them the opportunity to fulfil a long-held, if not always verbalised desire to return to learning and change at least a part of their identity. For Leila, redundancy was one of a number of problems she faced, and her story, which she tells last in this chapter, introduces some of the topics which are included in the next. For Heather it was the death of both her parents within a year which made her consider her position and return to education.
