Author Archives: James Bainbridge
A life changing experience, by Anthony (class of 2017)
Anthony with his son at the Go Higher Celebration
Hello! My name is Anthony Fitzpatrick and I started the Go Higher course in 2016 and I have just completed my BA Sociology. It has been a journey that seems to have lasted a few weeks rather than four years. I was often told that my degree would be over before I knew it and that really is the case.
I have lived in Liverpool all my life and I left school in 1995 with no qualifications whatsoever. I went from one job to the next without ever finding a role that would lead to a career. In 2005 I became a Liverpool Hackney driver and in 2012 I switched and became a Liverpool private hire driver and remained as such until the beginning of my second year of undergraduate study. I am a single parent and could only work whilst my son was in school, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to provide for him. I have to say this was a very difficult period in my life, I wanted to provide a better life for my son, and I knew something had to change. In 2015 I attended Newsham Adult Leaning Centre to study GCSE English. At this point my aim was to write at least one qualification on my rather empty CV. In the last lesson before the Easter break of my GCSE English course, the tutor informed us about an access to higher education course ran by the University of Liverpool called Go Higher. Whilst my initial aim had been to get a qualification that could secure me a better paid job, I saw the Go Higher programme as an opportunity to expand my aims and ambitions. I applied and was accepted to join the 2016 cohort.
