Published on 12 July 2017
A student who refused to let her visual impairment get in the way of fulfilling her ambition to achieve a Social Work degree has graduated with First Class honours this week.
Inspirational graduate Pauline Richardson was accompanied on stage at the Stadium of Light by her 12-year-old daughter Emily and guide dog Unity, to collect her degree from the University of Sunderland’s Chancellor Steve Cram CBE.
The achievement marks three years of dedication, hard work, and overcoming academic challenges to set Pauline on the path to becoming a social worker. It’s a career she’s wanted to pursue for the last 20 years, motivated by her own varying experiences of the care system.
“I am incredibly happy to have graduated, and to have my daughter by my side to collect this award makes the occasion even more special. I have always wanted to become a social worker, having been so involved with the service all my life because of my visual impairment, and I want to make a difference to the service, especially in the area of adult care.”
She added: “I am also a single parent, so I hope what I have achieved will inspire Emily to always just do her best in life and stand as an independent woman whatever she decides to do.
“I am one of the two per cent of the population who can see absolutely nothing, not even light or dark, but I think I see myself as lucky as I’ve had enough resilience in life to get up and carry on and have a beautiful daughter who is an amazing support. I don’t live my life hoping for a cure for blindness, I just live my life.”
Pauline, from Newcastle, was born with glaucoma which left her partially sighted, but lost her sight fully after her eye haemorrhaged following a routine eye operation 17 years ago. She describes her early school experiences of special education in the 1960s/70s as “atrocious”, learning just basic English and maths anchored by an attitude that “blind children will never be able to achieve much in their lives”.
Determined to challenge perceptions, Pauline left school and completed a commercial course at the Royal National College for the Blind, and later the Certificate in Youth and Community at Sunderland University and worked as a community development worker for 25 years in the North East. However, never failing to give up on her dream to become a social worker, with financial support from the Disabled Students Allowance has enabled her to employ a personal assistant to support her during her lectures and complete her degree at Sunderland.
She said: “The teaching on the course was superb and my fellow students were very supportive. I hope they actually got something out of having someone visually impaired on their course too.
“My PA took down the notes during the lectures, then read them back onto tape where I would then braille them for use in assignments”.
“To complete an assignment would take a sighted student perhaps two days; it would take me 10 days as I have to braille the information out so it could be put into the shape of an essay, then I would dictate the information to my PA, have it read back and finally shape it into a completed document so it took a long time, but that was my method. Because I am visually impaired I believe I have to try and be the best I can, and did not want to come out with anything other than a First Class degree – I guess I had a point to prove.”
Pauline is waiting until Emily finishes her current school year before she begins applying for social work jobs.
And her advice to other mature students thinking about returning to higher education: “If you want to do something just give it a go. You can only do your best, and if it doesn’t feel good enough, then just try harder.”
The University of Sunderland’s Graduation Ceremonies are estimated to bring £1 million annually to the region and are attended by over 11,000 students, family, friends and supporters.