A single mum has overcome a host of personal issues to celebrate graduating from the University of Lancashire.
Salimatta Jabang, a single mother to two-year-old Ansumana, has graduated from the BA (Hons) Community Leadership degree despite navigating divorce, single parenthood, moving overseas and post-natal depression.
The 26-year-old has described how her lecturers and personal faith helped her through a very dark time, to regain her confidence and start to dream of a brighter future.
Salimatta, from Gambia, said: “I was so close to giving up, it was the hardest period I have ever experienced, and I really didn’t think I would make it.
“I was relocating to a different country while going through a divorce, caring for my baby and struggling with postpartum depression.
“Balancing my studies with motherhood and mental health was incredibly challenging. There were many sleepless nights when my son would not settle and I would lie awake crying. My lecturers were one of the few people that were consistent with supporting me and letting me know that I was capable of getting this degree.
My lecturers were one of the few people that were consistent with supporting me and letting me know that I was capable of getting this degree– New graduate Salimatta Jabang
“Even when I felt like I had given up on myself, they offered words of encouragement, patience and respect.”
Having been involved in various community projects, back in Gambia and in the UK, Salimatta, who now lives in Aberdeen, was keen to find a course that would strengthen her ability to become an effective community leader and help her to pursue a career within women’s aid, to give back to those who had had helped her find her feet again.
She added: “The University of Lancashire felt like the perfect place for me to rebuild my life and continue my education.
“My lecturers never gave up on me. Their kind words and understanding have made me who I am today - a woman who is resilient and confident with a degree! I can never thank them enough.”