Part-time course first chapter in Don’s MA degree success

Taking on a full-time degree at any time in life can be a daunting task but studying English and Modern History in your 70s, having come from a background in maths and finance, really is an amazing achievement. 

Don Ramsay, who lives in Pittenweem, graduated with a 2:1 MA (Hons) in English and Modern History from the University of St Andrews on Wednesday morning having signed up to an evening degree course on a non-graduating basis in 2018, intending to try a couple of English Literature modules in the hope it would help him develop his writing skills as a budding author.  

Don, whose daughter Julie is Director of Admissions and International Programmes at St Andrews, described how he was thrilled to be back in an academic environment after a career in financial services.  

“It was inspiring to be taught by lecturers who just knew so much about their subjects. I studied Mathematics and Economics at York University in the 1960s, which was a poor grounding for studying English in my 70s! After my first degree, to improve my chances of getting a job, I then took an MSc in Mathematical modelling at Strathclyde.” 

Fast forward to 2018 and Don, now retired, found himself enjoying the English modules on the Evening Degree course so much he decided to try some History modules as well.  

“I found this quite challenging because I did not study History at school, but I had always loved reading history books. English was a slightly smaller leap, because I did pass Standard grade English. Lockdown started during the module on Medieval European History.”  

Thanking Joanna Fry, Assistant Director of Recruitment, Conversion and Fair Access (Scotland), for all her support, Don added: “Joanna helped me a lot on my choice of Evening Degree modules and in answering my questions about what was expected of me. She even helped when I couldn’t get onto Teams for a seminar during the pandemic.” 

With English and History modules under his belt, Don knew he was approaching a fork in the road. He faced three options – stop there, sign up for the new Combined Studies evening degree, or switch to the daytime Honours degree. 

“As the latter offered the chance to take the maximum number of English modules and study Modern History, which was more adjacent for my favourite period of English literature – Renaissance and Early Modern – I decided to switch,” he said. “This proved to be a good decision, but to progress from sub-honours to Honours, I had to pass several Modern History modules.” 

What started as a manageable workload quickly escalated. “Rather than attempting 20 credits per semester, I was soon attempting 60. This nearly sank me!” .  

The pressure wasn’t just academic – Don’s commute from Pittenweem to St Andrews added over an hour most days.  

“The strangest thing came to my rescue: lockdown. The online Teams seminars were helpful in getting me to the Honours stage.” 

Originally drawn to literature to improve his writing, Don had long considered taking a creative writing module. “But I was keen to maximise my study of literature, so it was only in my seventh year that I allowed myself to consider it.” 

By then, though, he’d made some key discoveries: “I liked academic writing as much as creative writing and found it less stressful. I was also rather overawed by the abilities of my fellow students. I feared exposing my feeble attempts at creative writing to the scrutiny of such capable fellow-students.”  

In the end, he opted instead for two Renaissance and Early Modern English modules. “They were great fun and let me achieve the best marks of my degree.” 

While one chapter ends this week, another is just beginning; Don has been accepted for a Masters by research degree at St Andrews, starting in September and focusing on his greatest literary love, Shakespeare. 

“This is great news but the feeling of ‘imposter syndrome’ has returned, the feeling that I had with just about all History modules.” 

So, would Don recommend attempted a degree course later in life? 

“I have mentioned my attempting a degree course to several people of the right age to be mature students. Several have recoiled in absolute horror! So, this is obviously not for everyone. But I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to work really hard, has great curiosity, someone who is looking for a new challenge and is comfortable with writing at length under some time pressure.” 

Don graduated today alongside students from the School of English, School of Classics, School of Divinity, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Biology, and School of History.