Relationships 

Advertisement

Nine women, nine lives

continued from page 5
Starting out


Katie Raley, 23, lives in Woodford Green, Essex with her partner Tom, 30. She's currently studying Child Development at university and hopes to have a career in child protection. She plans to have children only when she's been at work for at least a year

"I always thought I wanted to be a pediatric nurse. I completed two years of a nursing course before realising that nursing wasn't the career for me. I only wanted to work with kids and the course didn't allow me to specialise in my chosen area until the final year. I decided to leave, which was a nightmare because I really felt as if I'd let Tom and my parents down. They'd been so supportive while I was at college, and I felt really guilty about walking away. But it just wasn't for me. I spent a year working in a pub and then got a temporary job as a classroom assistant in a primary school, which was when I realised that I still wanted to work with kids.

Going back to uni was a big decision because having left once before there was no way I could walk out again. I had to be certain that this was definitely what I wanted. I'm not great at studying or writing essays, but I knew that if I wanted to have the career of my choice it was going to involve further study. Tom was brilliant.

We had just bought a bit of a wreck of a house together, so for me to then give up work to go back to full-time study for three years was going to be a big financial burden on him. But, he told me to go for it. He's self-employed and has worked in roadworks since he was 15. I feel very strongly that if, once I've got a job, he wants to take a break from work, it will be my turn to support him. It's all about give and take.

Tom and I aren't married and it's unlikely that we'll be tying the knot any time soon. It's just too big a financial commitment to spend all that money on a wedding, especially now that we've got this house, which needs a lot of work doing to it. Kids are definitely part of the plan, though. I've become a bit broody lately.

Some of my friends already have children, and, if I could, I'd like to have one sooner rather than later because I want to be young enough to enjoy it. Saying that, we'll definitely wait a few more years because I need to finish my degree and get a job. No time is really a right time to have kids, but we don't want any more financial pressure than we've already got. I'll have about five thousand pounds of student loans to pay back, too.

Basically, the game plan at the moment is to finish college next May, hopefully already have a job lined up, work for a year or two and then try for a baby. I definitely plan to go back to work once I do have kids because I haven't put all this time and effort into study only to walk away from my career after just a few years. Hopefully, our families would help out with childcare as we both have relatives living nearby. If not, Tom can take that time off from work and become a house husband. There are plenty of possibilities, so I think the next few years are going to be pretty busy."

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB