Bit of a change from things I used to do

[Niamh]

So I have made a bit of a change in my life recently, I ended up in a pit of anxiety and depression for years. Won't go into detail but it all boiled over in lockdown and 20 years of masking and coping finally fell apart, almost taking me with it.

My old life of keeping busy and doing random things to keep my mind occupied are long gone, and I'm starting university in September to go into healthcare. Specifically a sexual health professional with a focus on the intersectionality of neurodivergence, gender incongruence and intersex differences.

My main goal is to get my BSc in sexual health over the next 3 years, then start work in the field and also look at an MSc in sexual health along with the first few years of work. I aim to perform research into GI, AuDHD and DSD intersectionality to obtain a PhD in sexual health. In the middle of all this I hope to obtain a pre-registration MSc in nursing and also a PGCE. I'd be a professor in sexual health as well as a prescribing sexual health nurse and possibly therapist.

Bit of a change from who ya'll used to know, but definitely a change for the better 

[NorthumBryan]

Sounds like a LOT of work, but you seem to have both a plan & a goal, which makes a massive amount of difference. I wish you well on your quest.

[Niamh]

It will be a lot of work, but I am hell bent on making a difference in an area of healthcare that has no professionals who have lived experience. There was nearly a decades worth of opportunities to figure out what was wrong with me and it was all missed. I don't want this to have to happen to others.

[NorthumBryan]

A very noble cause indeed 

[Niamh]

Finally finished a few things today and should have met the conditions of my offer.

Now to quit work xD

[Niamh]

DBS check to do then time to enrol. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[MadisonMotorsportUK]

You've had it there then. There's no way you could afford an Aston Martin 

[NorthumBryan]

Good luck 

[Niamh]

Maybe not an Aston, but I do own a bright red sporty Italian car ;)

[MadisonMotorsportUK]

A Punto or 500 doesn't count, unless it's an Abarth 

[NorthumBryan]

My mate's got a Fiat 500 Abarth and it's a little rocket ship! So quick off the line and it's a hoot to drive. Not much room in it mind...

[MadisonMotorsportUK]

I ended up with two 500s at one point. I'd just sold my Megane RS and I let my (4 yrs old at the time) daughter choose the colour of the next car. She saw a yellow 500 and wouldn't take no for an answer. It was a 1.3 diesel. So to keep her happy I bought it. But I also bought a red 595 Abarth as well 

To be fair, the diesel was pretty nippy and at one point gave me 98.8mpg on a full tank, but that was pretty much cruising up and down the M5 at 60mph on cruise control, which was handy when me and Em split up and she moved back to Bristol with the kids.

[Niamh]

Is a 156 TS with a Momo leather and mahogany interior. Got a Diesel for spares too and the turbo bolts straight on, that and new cams and it'll be a bit of a rocket. If I could get hold of a running scrap Busso I'd do the engine swap, 2.5 or 3.2 v6 :D

[MadisonMotorsportUK]

Ah, I miss my Busso. Still, for the limited mileage I do now, the MiTo does me.

[Niamh]

Well, that went well. University canned the course due to low numbers, along with the entire path I was going to progress onto. I ended up changing degree after the first year and promptly had a breakdown. Currently on a study break in the foundation year of a robotics engineering degree.