Laura Benson

"After several years of working in the marketing department at a top fund management company, I was motivated to learn more about how marketing works in business. So after discussing study options with work, I decided to look into the opportunities to achieve a qualification in marketing.

As a mum of one at the time (I have this January added to that with a new baby girl), I decided that a degree would be too much of a jump as I was not sure it would be possible to juggle with family life and work commitments, plus I hadn’t studied for almost 15 years (since achieving my A-levels). After lots of research I came across the Business Marketing HND with Arden University and decided this was a course that really suited my needs. It was achievable in two years if studied part-time (which was a must as I worked four days a week) and offered a very flexible programme which meant I could study when I wanted to and all online. My intention was to always study for a degree but I started out with a HND as I wanted to be sure I could successfully study, work and bring up a family at the same time.

This I am pleased to say was achieved so I am now working my way through the top-up.

Distance Learning has given me lots of flexibility which has been essential! I was keen to complete the HND as close to the two years as possible so decided to complete two modules each quarter. This was very tough and required complete dedication and good time management but it was something I achieved and am very proud of. When I started out my goal was to simply pass the HND (a Merit or a Distinction grade would be an added bonus) as I was out of study practice. But after achieving a Merit early on I was motivated to only get good grades. I am delighted to report that I achieved 13 Distinctions and 3 Merit grades!

The last two years of study have been very challenging but at the same time extremely rewarding, motivating and successful.

This course has been very beneficial for me as I have:

• Taken the initiative to discover more broadly about marketing and business in my workplace (by setting up meetings with various experts for example the Head of Advertising and media agencies to help with the Advertising & Promotion in Business module).
• Vastly improved my writing skills, and;
• Demonstrated to myself that I can successful study and achieve good marks whilst balancing work and family life.

The 2 years of study has also shown that I have the capability to understand more about managerial skills and that I can do it well (not really believing this before). I believe that the follow-on top-up degree, which I have recently started, will help me to become even more successful in my career especially as some of the modules look at managing a team.

I have also inspired two other people in the marketing department to study (one of which has followed on the same HND course).

I feel very honoured to be studying whilst working and bringing up a family. It is very hard to say the least but when I get amazing grades and feedback it all makes it so worthwhile. I am hoping next year I will have achieved my degree, something I never thought would be possible, and I could not do it without the fantastic support of my husband and all of the tutors at Arden!"