THE STUDENT PAPER
Meðbyr covid í frekara nám GREIN ARTICLE Unnur Gígja Ingimundardóttir ÞÝÐING TRANSLATION Högna Þorkelsdóttir
Covid’s complicity in Continuing Education
LJÓSMYND PHOTOGRAPH Sædís Harpa Stefánsdóttir
Fyrir marga getur verið erfitt að stíga sín fyrstu skref í átt að námi. Skortur á sjálfstrausti, námsörðugleikar, heimilisaðstæður og svo mætti lengi telja. Hjá mér var það sjálfstraustið, ég trúði því lengi að ég væri slakur námsmaður. List- og verkgreinar voru mitt uppáhald en stærðfræðin var minn Akkilesarhæll. Þegar ég byrjaði í listnámi í mennta skóla fann ég fyrir félagslegu óöryggi og flosnaði fljótt upp úr námi. Eftir að hafa eignast frumburðinn minn árið 2012 fékk ég drifkraftinn og áhugann til þess að klára menntaskóla og útskrifaðist vorið 2017 af Textílbraut. Háskólanám hræddi mig og mér fannst áfangalýsingarnar rosalegar, ég hafði líka heyrt af fólki sem sat yfir námsbókunum nótt og dag til þess að komast yfir efnið. Ég beið því með að fara í frekara nám. Það má segja að ég hafi upplifað tilvistarkreppu og vissi ekki hvert ég vildi stefna eftir útskrift, ég byrjaði að vinna í fataverslun því þar var tenging við textílnámið. Ég eignast tvíburana mína árið 2018 og fann þá fyrir sterkri löngun til þess að mennta mig og finna framtíðarstarf. Þar sem ég var komin með stóra fjölskyldu og meiri fjárhagslega ábyrgð vildi ég finna styttri leið út á vinnumarkaðinn og því urðu námskeið sem ég gat klárað í fæðingarorlofinu fyrir valinu. Til dæmis er ég með diplómu í förðun sem ég gerði reyndar ekkert við, því það er ákveðið hark að komast inn í bransann og ég hafði enn ekki byggt upp nægilegt sjálfstraust til að fara þá leiðina. Eftir fæðingarorlofið braust svo út heimsfaraldur og fór ég aftur að skoða nám til að styrkja stöðu mína fyrir yfirvofandi flæði af atvinnuleitendum sem yrðu að berjast um störfin sem í boði yrðu. Það var nú eða aldrei, ég hafði unnið í sjálfstraustinu með hugrænni atferlismeðferð ásamt því að fullorðnast og læra betur á lífið. Ég hafði þó efasemdir um að fara í háskólanám þar sem mér fannst ég vera orðin svo gömul og komin með stóra fjölskyldu sem treysti á mig. Peninga áhyggjur og framtíðarsýnin um að komast ekki út á vinnumarkaðinn fyrr en korter í fertugt hræddu mig. Það sem var samt meira ógnvekjandi
It can be difficult for many to take their first steps toward education. Lack of confidence, learning difficulties, circumstances at home, and countless other factors. For me, it was lack of confidence – for a long time, I believed I was a bad student. Art and design courses were my favorites, but math was my Achilles heel. When I started art courses in high school, I felt a lot of social insecurity and soon dropped out. After having my firstborn in 2012, I had the drive and interest to finish high school, and I graduated in spring 2017, having focused on textiles in my studies. But university scared me, and I found the course descriptions overwhelming. I had also heard of people who slaved over their books night and day just to get through the material. So I waited to continue my education. You might say I had an existential crisis and had no idea what I wanted to do or where I was headed after graduation. I started to work in a clothing shop since it tied in to my training in textiles. I gave birth to my twins in 2018 and yearned to further my education and discover my future career. Since I had a big family and more financial responsibility, I wanted to find a shorter path to the job market. The obvious solution was to take courses I could finish during my maternity leave. For example, I have a diploma in cosmetology, although I didn’t really put to use since it takes quite a bit of backbone to get yourself into the industry and I had not yet built up the confidence to do so. As I finished my maternity leave, a global pandemic took the world by storm, and once again, I started looking for programs that would help strengthen my position among the flood of job seekers who would now be fighting for the few available positions up for grabs. It was now or never; I had worked on my confidence with cognitive behavioral therapy, besides just growing up and learning more about life. I still had some doubts about going to university, as I felt I was too old and already had a large family that depended on me. Worries about my finances and not entering the job market until I was nearly forty scared me. But it was even scarier to think of getting stuck in a boring minimum-wage job forever. With my husband’s support, I decided to apply to study fashion design at the Iceland University of the Arts. Alongside my studies, I had often worked in after-school programs, and I saw an opportunity to acquire a teaching permit. After my BA degree, I could take a two-year Master’s program and, in the process, combine my interests and a possible career I was interested in. I was invited to an interview and put on the waitlist, but did not get in. I had already visualized spending the winter in the classroom, so I didn’t let the rejection stop me. I made the spontaneous decision to apply to study elementary education with an emphasis on art and vocational subjects at the University of Iceland. It was a decision I don’t regret. This fall, application rates to universities reached a record high, with many pointing to Covid as
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