Creative Writing: Community Access Program (CAP) student profiles
Glen Harvey
"When my son was sick with Schizo-effective Disorder, I thought it was me that was going mad. I needed a break, personal respite to keep me going. I saw an ad in The Age for CAP Studies at Melb Uni. My son felt he could cope for a few hours once a week, so in fear and trepidation I signed up to study Creative Writing through the English Department. I hadn't studied since 1986, and that was at the University of Qld, St. Lucia, so I was unfamiliar not only with the campus but totally out of sync with modern university protocols. At first I was intimidated by the system and by the savvy young people that I was in seminars with.
The savvy staff and students turned out to be supportive and inclusive in their attitudes to older students. The systems are so user- friendly that even old warhorses like me have no trouble assimilating. Through the study, my self-confidence and independence have both grown. Perhaps the best outcome has been the effect that my studies have had on my son's mental health. As part of a program of encouragement and parental support, he has watched me come alive and enjoy the contact with like-minded people on campus at Parkville, and it has influenced him to want to study himself. He successfully completed his first year of music performance studies at NMIT Fairfield, and this year, as well as his second year there, he is also studying 2 VCE subjects at CAE in Flinders Street.
Mother and son doing well."