As a freelance writer, my career has taken something of a swerve in recent years.
After spending a lot of the last 25 years doing what’s known as ‘brand journalism’, I noticed that demand started to decline.
Brand journalism involves things like ghost writing opinion pieces for executives within companies, or writing white papers and other corporate publications like email newsletters, brochures and email outreach. The problem is that many companies now use AI tools to create this sort of content. After all, why pay me £500 to write your article, when ChatGPT can write it for free, in less than 60 seconds?
Of course, there are a ton of reasons for pay a writer – not least because a writer understands your tone, understands your local market, doesn’t make things up, and can create something unique. But that’s a tough argument to make when the opposing view is, “But AI is free”.
About a year ago, I needed to do something to revamp my skills.
Choosing a Course
I looked around at universities that I felt were in commuting distance and made a short list.
I knew that I love content, technology, online communication and business, so I was looking for a course that would help me develop skills around this new, AI-enabled media landscape. I went to open days at various universities and seriously considered a few different courses before deciding to apply for a Masters’ course in Artificial Intelligence at Lancaster.
Specifically, the course I chose looks at all the global issues around AI, and how to use it best. This means I’m learning about how online communication works and risks around AI ethics, effectiveness, environmental impact and the like.
I enrolled at the start of October and I was a bag of nerves. First, what if I was the only over 40 person in the place, and everyone was weirded out by the grandma in the corner? What if my 25 years of making content accessible and relatable meant I couldn’t really DO academic writing any more? And how was I even going to find the time to make it work?
Becoming a mature student
From the first week of studying at uni, I knew I’d made the right choice.
My course is small – there are six of us in the group – and we’re part of a group of connected courses, so there are 16 students in total. I’m going to guess that I’m the oldest student but not by much. There are plenty of people in their 30s and older who have had careers and worked in the world before returning to study. It’s been genuinely fascinating (and fun) talking to people about their hugely varied experiences and insights into the topics we study.
The course itself (so far at least) hasn’t been wildly esoteric or academically demanding – which has surprised me, since I expected a Masters to be significantly tougher than my undergrad degree, which hasn’t been the case at all. The first two assignments were literally scored as 100/100 on the basis they were completed and handed in. I’ve got some proper essays that will be marked next semester, so I think things might start to ramp up, then.
Overall, I have taken the view that I wanted to really dive in to the experience, and not just pop in for a couple of hours for a class, then go home. So I’ve got involved in a couple of charity events, helping to support an organisation that helps women and babies in the prison/foster care system.
I’ve also joined the college Bar Sports team, which means for two evenings a week, I’m playing pool and darts in both the womens’ and the open teams. It’s been a great way to make friends and meet people from other colleges, as well as giving me the opportunity to refresh some very, very rusty skills that I haven’t used since the 90s. There is training sometimes at the weekend and this week we’ll have one of our first socials.
My timetable this semester has worked out pretty well. I have a 2 hour seminar on a Monday afternoon, which means I can do half a day of regular work before shifting into student mode. On Friday I have a full day on campus, with one seminar from 9 to 11am, and another from 3pm to 5pm. Alongside those six hours of seminars, there will sometimes be a couple of hours spent on a group discussion or activity, and I’m expected to spend a good chunk of time reading material related to the seminars.
End of Term Reflections
What I’ve realised about studying later in life is that you TRULY appreciate it. When you’re spending hard-earned money on a course, the idea of skipping seminars makes no sense. And I’ve got to choose a topic I’m genuinely interested in, so it’s no hardship to make time for classes.
I’ll be honest – there are a couple of compulsory classes in the course and not every class is massively relevant to me. That said, I’ve learned something useful at every one of my AI classes, and I’m psyched to start applying that knowledge to my work next year. We’ve also completed a semester of a course called “Global Leadership” which is not directly relevant to my work, but gives me the chance to think about how we influence people, and bring them along with us on a journey of change.
I’ve also got to know my classmates better – as one of only two British people on the AI course, meeting course mates from Peru, India, Iran and Indonesia has been so interesting. It also meant I was able to invite my coursemates to a festive meal at my place, where we chatted up a storm, enjoyed some great food (not cooked by me) and I showed my guests learned how to pull a Christmas cracker!
In short, I’d say if you’re considering returning to study as a mature student – go for it.
Check out the courses available and remember to ask about contact hours. I found lots of uni’s tried to talk me into full-time study arguing this was only 10 contact hours a week, but I need to also consider reading time, independent study and travel time – meaning a part-time option is far more realistic.
Financially, the fees for a Masters tend to sit between £12,000 and £15,000 a year, although if you go to an old uni you might get anywhere from 5-20% as an alumni discount. There is finance available to help with post-graduate study, and many universities are very keen to attract older, part-time students, so offer additional financial support depending on your original qualifications.
