Never too late to live your dreams

First published by ACU

By Emilie Ng

Raelyn Marshall has had to process all the typical experiences of a first-time university student, from the overwhelm of that very first lecture, to navigating the stress of study with personal commitments.

But unlike the typical university student, Rae is also 74 years old. For this devoted grandmother, the opportunity to study at university is literally the dream of a lifetime.

“I feel like Yoda most of the time,” Rae laughs. “University was an interest, but it was not something I ever believed or thought or imagined that I'd ever do.

“Life didn't take me in that direction at all.”

Born in Melbourne in 1950, Rae became a single mum as a teenager. She gave birth to her daughter, and later welcomed a son.

“Being a single mum is the choice I made so I look back on it with beautiful memories,” Rae said. 

“I worked in mostly factories when the children were younger because they paid adult wages. The hardest part of being a single mum – and I believe still is the case – is affordable housing and family friendly employment. When children are sick or on school holidays, I would generally leave the job that I had then try to find another one when I could.”

A familial connection to university

Rae has always put family above everything else in her life. Even after her two children became adults, she took up the duty to care for her daughter’s children, three of whom have special needs. 

It’s what made the loss of her only daughter more excruciating painful.

“My daughter died eight years ago. You could never be prepared, ever,” Rae said.

In the grieving that followed, Rae found a glimmer of hope. Shortly after her daughter had died, while Rae was caring for her granddaughter. Rae’s son-in-law, and the father of her granddaughter, was visiting. Bruce began to share his experiences of studying ACU’s Clemente program, a free course in the humanities for people who have experienced barriers to a university education.

“And he was talking about an assignment he was doing and I interrupted the conversation saying, ‘You know, I’d really love to do that’,” Rae said. “And he said, ‘You could do it, you know’.” 

Bruce gave her a mobile number for a Learning Partner in the course. She put off calling the number for a year, mostly because of her commitments to her grandchildren, but she was also riddled with anxiety and lack of self-confidence.

“I think it was almost a year later after my daughter died that I just rang the Learning Partner and said I was interested in finding out more about it,” Rae said.

“He made an appointment for me to come in, and on the day I went in, he enrolled me in the program.

“It was the way to do it, you know, because I would have kept on saying ‘I can't do that, I don't know how to do that’.”

Rae says that moment she started Clemente “was like an awakening”.

“Because you sort of go into automatic pilot and that's where I was, but didn't know it,” Rae said.

“Before my daughter died, I had been in Grandparents Group because I was a carer for her children. It’s a group of people in the same situation in their life, and you would get together and talk and laugh. They were great but sometimes you want to just get out of that same place and do something totally different.

“Clemente was, for me, something so unknown and so different and so challenging for me in every aspect that it just made me better. Everything is different now, everything's better.”

Taking every opportunity as it comes

Rae graduated from the Clemente program in 2021. Then, she discovered she could continue with an undergraduate degree, and receive credits for the Clemente units. She decided to study a Bachelor of Arts (History) at ACU Melbourne, which drew on her love of the world, cultures, and people.

“I just love it. I just absolutely love it and I just can't imagine, when it finishes, what will I do. I'll have to haunt the museums. It's the most fun thing,” Rae said.

University has given Rae more than opportunities for study; it’s expanded her horizons in the most unexpected way. Her degree opened the doors for her first overseas travel, to complete one of her Core Curriculum units through ACU’s winter intensive program at ACU’s Rome Campus.

“When I applied for the Winter Core program I thought it was on campus,” Rae said. “I'm so happy that it's not. It's my first trip anywhere overseas.”

Rae hopes to take in every minute of Rome – even anything that might possibly go wrong. It’s a perspective she has taken into her entire approach to university and life.

“That’s another thing that I've got out of this university experience, I don't see things as a big disaster or a sadness or a set-back anymore,” she said.

“I feel now that every set back is a chance to do it again, and I know it'll be more fun this time. In my own life I had so many failures, but things go wrong in life. Some people don't want to deal with something that's hard, where they might fail. 

“If there’s one piece of advice I would tell someone coming into Clemente, I’d say – and it's easier said than done – but try and joy every failure. Try and enjoy it.”

Learn more about Clemente Australia at ACU.