Plymouth woman who lost her son sits English and science GCSEs in his memory
A Plymouth woman who lost her son last year has sat her English and science GCSE exams in his memory.
Natasha Jasper has been studying at Plymouth City College.
She said: “I didn’t do well with my English or science at school so I thought I’d come back and re-do them.
"I was actually quite nervous about English but I actually fell in love with creative writing."
Natasha decided to go back to school in memory of her son, Ziggy.
She said: “I lost my son last year and I was a full-time carer so I couldn’t work - I had to start from scratch.
"I went into GCSEs thinking that if he can’t do school I’ll do it for him.
“In my science exam, there were questions about CPR and I did have to perform CPR on my son.
"I did walk out of the exam and cry. It took all my might to go into that exam and complete it.
“The fact I got that result, under those circumstances...it was just an accomplishment to turn up to college, let alone actually get the results I wanted.”
Throughout the studying, Natasha has used Ziggy as motivation.
She said: “My son couldn’t talk much but he used to say ‘I do it’ - all year I’ve been repeating that, and I did it so I’m really chuffed!”
Alongside Natasha as a mature student was Megan Shadden, who needed to get her English GCSE in order to go to university to study creative writing.
Megan said: “The dream is to go into lecturing or be an award-winning novelist.
“As an adult it feels like a lot more nerve-racking to go back into education, but the college has been so supportive and the classes are really inclusive.”
Natasha praised Megan for her encouragement.
She said: “Megan was honestly my biggest inspiration. I really struggled with English but listening to Megan’s creative writing was honestly so inspiring, I absolutely loved it.”
Megan said: “We’ve been encouraging each other the whole way through so it was really nice to come and do it full circle.”
When asked what advice she's give to others, Natasha said: “Life’s too short, don’t hold back and be scared of something you could be amazing at, just go for it and see what you’re made of really.”