# Degree of choice :)



## kitten (Jan 22, 2011)

Hello all,
I have recently been applying to uni and it really got me wondering which cause/vocation the random average diabetic puts their academic efforts towards, so to those of you that have studied for a degree or will be doing so in the upcoming years what subject was it in  
P.s. my offers have come through and I've applied for several courses.My most favoured of which being Japanese studies and Business Management. Although I have also applied for Japanese studies as single honours, and Asia Pacific Studies. 
lucy xxx


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## macast (Jan 22, 2011)

hi Lucy..... don't know if I am average or not   but my degree was in psychology and social history (odd mix I know)..... and I became a holistic therapist specialising mainly in reflexology

will be interesting to know what others did


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## rachelha (Jan 22, 2011)

Hello. My degree is in environmental chemistry, but I am now a part qualified accountant :-(


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## Freddie99 (Jan 22, 2011)

I tried to do a degree in Biomedical science but it didn't work out. I've just applied to a degree in adult nursing. I was vaguely interested in doing history at one point.


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## kitten (Jan 22, 2011)

macast that is very interesting  I am interested in seeing what everyone did. Someone told me the other day that apparently diabetic peoples have a high drop out rate from higher education. I sort of just laughed in their face. A lot of people think that I shouldn't of even applied because I have had poor attendance to date and terrible attendance at school. People did not think that I would even turn up for my gcse's but I did and took a few extras, so I have 14 of them. So that showed them! People for the most part think that I am odd but I don't see what is so wrong with ambition or chasing your dreams. Give it all you've got, 'till every last little fibre of your being is exhausted then if you didn't succeed jump right back up and go again untill you do is my motto  My parents are also very against my degree choice but they don;t really understand me to be honest.



rachelha said:


> Hello. My degree is in environmental chemistry, but I am now a part qualified accountant :-(


I do accounts a level but I'm doing the full a level in one year instead of two so i seem to almost always be doing some accounts hehehe. i love it though  i take it that you are studying for your professional exams and have maybe done a few Rachel? do you enjoy it too  I hope you do hun xxx


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## shiv (Jan 22, 2011)

I did a year's worth of Geography & Education before dropping out due to mental health issues (woooo massive anxiety problems).

I'd like to go back at some point but I've realised I'm not in a hurry to do so. I don't know exactly what I'd like to study - I'm leaning towards nursing but still not 100% - so I'm just going to hold out until I figure out exactly what I want.


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## cazscot (Jan 22, 2011)

I am a mature student currently in 3rd year of a 4 year BSc Biomedical Science (hons) degree


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## randomange (Jan 22, 2011)

kitten said:


> macast that is very interesting  I am interested in seeing what everyone did. Someone told me the other day that apparently diabetic peoples have a high drop out rate from higher education. I sort of just laughed in their face. A lot of people think that I shouldn't of even applied because I have had poor attendance to date and terrible attendance at school. People did not think that I would even turn up for my gcse's but I did and took a few extras, so I have 14 of them. So that showed them! People for the most part think that I am odd but I don't see what is so wrong with ambition or chasing your dreams. Give it all you've got, 'till every last little fibre of your being is exhausted then if you didn't succeed jump right back up and go again untill you do is my motto  My parents are also very against my degree choice but they don;t really understand me to be honest.



I have a PhD in Biochemistry, and I was one of two diabetics in my undergraduate class, and I know two others who work in my research unit - all with degrees!  So don't let people tell you that you can't do it because you're diabetic - show them they're wrong!


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## rachelha (Jan 22, 2011)

kitten said:


> I do accounts a level but I'm doing the full a level in one year instead of two so i seem to almost always be doing some accounts hehehe. i love it though  i take it that you are studying for your professional exams and have maybe done a few Rachel? do you enjoy it too  I hope you do hun xxx



I am a certified accounting technician, and I am two thirds of the way through my professional qualification.  I am not sure if I will ever finish it.  I was doing it all by home study as my work did not give me time off for studying.  It was very tough studying and working full time, my diabetes definitely suffered.  I decided to take a break from it to get healthier so I could have kids.  I am not sure when/if I will get back to it.  It is a shame I did not finish them before having children.

A lot of what in was studying was not relevant to my work at all.  I want to stay working for charities/public bodies so all then tax and shares papers are irrelevant to me.


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## kitten (Jan 22, 2011)

Sciency stuff seems quite popular so far doesn't it  Agreed it is difficult to study and work. I work full time hours as well as doing my full time course but I am not working full time for the month of January as it is exams which is making it a real struggle money wise sadly. The hardest aspect of it i find is that the rest of your life doesnt ever move to meet your diabetic needs if you know what I mean. It is all individual I suppose depending on how much support/help you get and how good your control is. I have absolutely no support or help whatsoever practically and it does get difficult when I'm throwing myself on the floor at college with hypos but I am trying to sort the hypos out and I will get there


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## AlisonM (Jan 24, 2011)

I started out studying Fine Art & Textile Design which I had to give up due to ill health but finished up with a PhD in Behavioural Psychology, neither of which I have ever used in my working life. I'm currently playing with the idea of using my ?200 annual ILA to do an art history or language course.

I did my psychology BsC with the OU, which is a great institution for folk who don't have the time or resources to spend three or four years at a physical university. They also part-funded the research I did for my PhD.

BTW, PhD stands for Piled Higher and Deeper.


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## SilentAssassin1642 (Jan 24, 2011)

I did Archaeology, and ended up working for Southampton City Council's commercial archaeology unit before the recession made the building sector go haywire  Then, due to said recession I lost my job. Boo recession.


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## xxlou_lxx (Jan 24, 2011)

SilentAssassin1642 said:


> I did Archaeology, and ended up working for Southampton City Council's commercial archaeology unit before the recession made the building sector go haywire  Then, due to said recession I lost my job. Boo recession.



Im goin back to finish nursing degree in April but my friend just qualified (we started out together) and although has the degree and nmc registation is going for a job interview this week in a call centre!  booo recession indeed! It has not put me off doing it tho, im sure everything will work out for the best...


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## SacredHeart (Jan 24, 2011)

I have a BA in Performing Arts from a specialist arts institute in Cumbria. Sadly been swallowed up into the university of Cumbria takeover now  Also currently doing a part time MA in Theatre: Writing Directing and Performance at the University of York. Possibly looking into carrying on to a PhD after that, but with the terrible way fees are being handled, it's looking unlikely!


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## caffeine_demon (Jan 24, 2011)

I've got a BSC in computer science


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## novorapidboi26 (Jan 24, 2011)

I done a Bachelors of Engineering (Hons) in Civil Engineering......

Choosing the degree was simple, its what I needed to get into the job I wanted...........

If I didnt know what I wanted to do I wouldnt have considered university at all........

In terms of choice of degree and diabetes, It was never factored in to any of my choices fortunately.....


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## Northerner (Jan 24, 2011)

I studied for a BA in Russian Language and Literature, but it was way before I was diagnosed (over 25 years!). The closest I came to getting a job using the degree was an enquiry to act as an interpreter for a visiting Russian businessman about 3 months after graduating. Unfortunately, I was out of the country at the time, picking grapes in southern France! As the degree was a little out of the ordinary it has often proved a good talking point at interviews etc. and it means that I can write witty things on birthday cards that aren't really witty, but no-one knows!


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## Liz! (Jan 24, 2011)

I did not get A levels as being brittle meant I couldn't get through that long without food and in those days there was no help for me... don't think anyone realised really. It didn't matter as I had already been accepted into Art foundation because of my portfolio. I did  year of that and became interested in photography, and did one year of photography and specialised in Film and TV. 

Worked for 4 years in the film industry, but it was very hard as my control was chaotic and I was given a pump (early 1980s, very new, also had to take Ultratard die to Consultant who didn't know what he was doing which nearly finished me off) and so my control was very knife edge. 

Stopped work to have children, started writing stories while on the PTA, went to creative writing classes and ended up getting published as a children's poet, then did an MA in writing for children. Which, freed from the shackles of exams I got a distinction in. So I can work from home as working outside the home is something I can't do without a lot of hassle. BUT I can't earn a wage as it doesn't pay at all well, and I'm not allowed to drive with no warning symptoms, so can't go into schools.


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## margie (Jan 24, 2011)

I got my degree several years before I developed diabetes. It is in Statistics and Computing.


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## RachelT (Jan 25, 2011)

I have a degree in Applied Physics with combined studies (when i started it was physics and astronomy, but i failed radio astronomy). I wasn't diabetic at the time, and be honest, i would have struggled to tell you anything about diabetes. I never got a job using physics, i'm a pharmacy technician...if i had a crystal ball i'd have done chemistry a level but hey.
Last year two of our summer placement students were type 1 diabetics, they'd be in their final year of their masters degrees in pharmacy now. So don't let the big d hold you back. Japanese studies sounds facinating.


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## katie (Jan 27, 2011)

cazscot said:


> I am a mature student currently in 3rd year of a 4 year BSc Biomedical Science (hons) degree



I did a sandwich course like this one but in Multimedia Communication Systems (ie. Computing).


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## Andy HB (Jan 27, 2011)

RachelT said:


> I have a degree in Applied Physics with combined studies



Hello Physics Buddy! There aren't too many of us about! 

My BSc (Hons) degree was in Pure and Applied Physics from UMIST in Manchester (when it was still independentish). I got the degree a good quarter of a century prior to my diagnosis.

I might have stayed on to do my masters (an offer was made by one of the professors), but I'd had enough of education by then. I wanted to earn some mula!

Andy


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## AlisonM (Jan 27, 2011)

We're a pretty brainy bunch eh? It's fascinating seeing what everybody gets up to.


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## Twitchy (Jan 27, 2011)

my degree is a BEng (Hons) in Aeronautical Engineering... although I agree that diabetes should never put anyone off trying anything, it definitely made life a little more challenging...I also had an undiagnosed underactive thyroid (for at least a year or two, in hindsight) which meant despite early nights, not partying etc I ended up falling asleep a lot in lectures (ok, they weren't always that exciting to start with lol!) & had to resit part of the second year (oh what fun! ).  I did need my degree for my job, but don't use much of it day to day, as it were...


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## Estellaa (Jan 27, 2011)

well i'm in college atm, but will hopefully go to uni in 2 years.
i hope to continue with what i'm doing at the moment which is IT, although not sure what to do in IT yet :/


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## squidge63 (Jan 27, 2011)

Initially I qualified as a nurse (before it became a degree) and worked in nursing for 6 years before a health problem meant I couldn't carry on. Then went into admin/medical records which I did for 11 years, and during that time I did a BSc Geography and Computing degree, hoping to either try and get into water management (but the module I wanted to take in water management clashed with a set module I had to take in computing so ended up with a module on river management), or try and get into computing field. Ended up staying in the NHS and did a bed managers job for two years (became diabetic during that time) and then got a job as admissions and contract co-ordinator at a charitable trust, but got sacked just before my probationary period ended.. my diabetes wasn't well controlled had spent a lot of time off sick, to be honest I didn't like the place much. Then my health started to go downhill and I haven't worked since. I do voluntary work at my local hospital, and have done that for 2 years now.


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## novorapidboi26 (Jan 27, 2011)

love the avatar squidge, they make such a lovely couple....lol....


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## squidge63 (Jan 27, 2011)

novorapidboi26 said:


> love the avatar squidge, they make such a lovely couple....lol....



They do don't they..


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## kitten (Jan 27, 2011)

isn't it interesting seeing what we all get up to


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## Pigeon (Jan 27, 2011)

I did Physics too! But I wasn't diabetic then either. But I have two friends who did physics who had T1 at the time, and one who did music.


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## fruitloaf (Jan 27, 2011)

I did a degree in Biochemistry and then an MSc in clinical biochemistry. All before being diabetic but the clinical biochemistry background definately helped in the self diagnosis.


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## Persil (Jan 27, 2011)

I'm currently in my first year of university studying French and Spanish. No idea what I'm gonna do after though!! Luckily I have a few more years before I graduate 

Vicki


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## Cate (Jan 28, 2011)

I'm joining the party a bit late, never mind!  There's not many arts people around it seems, most of you seem to have done sciences.

I have a BA (Comb Hons) in English and French Studies from the Uni of Birmingham - 4 year degree, 3rd year at university in France which means I have a DEUG in Lettres Modernes (General diploma in French, basically).

I also have a postgrad diploma in Internal Communications Management from Kingston Uni.


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## Northerner (Jan 28, 2011)

Cate said:


> ...3rd year at university in France which means I have a DEUG in Lettres Modernes (General diploma in French, basically).
> ...



My Russian degree also brought me a diploma in language studies from Leningrad Polytechnic!  I used to have a t-shirt that said Leningrad Polytechnic across it, but I was so skinny you could only see 'ENINGRA'


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