Dianne Gibson

Dianne Gibson is a 58-year-old Unisa student who recently graduated with an LLB degree. Gibson grew up in Edenvale, Gauteng, and went to Sandringham High School where she matriculated in 1981 with a university exemption matric. Although she wanted to study law, she explains that her late mother and headmaster talked her into becoming a teacher. "I enrolled at Wits and hated every minute of it," she says. "Without writing my first exam, I came home one day in or around June and told my mother she was wasting her money and my time. I then started working for Standard Bank and ended up eventually going into training and development."

This was followed by a stint as a training and development practitioner at FNB and an IT trainer at DHL. She eventually started her own company, training mainly on Microsoft Office products. After successfully running her own company for about 11 years, she started consulting and eventually ended up training in System Applications and Products (SAP). "I found a niche in systems training and at some stage also trained Oracle as well as many different in-house systems," she explains. "During the last 30+ years, I have worked as a facilitator, course developer and e-Learning specialist."

Asked why she still wanted to study at this point in her very successful career, she says: "I had wanted to study law from an early age. I have traced it back to when I was 11 years old. There was a trial which was covered by the media – the Marlene Lehnberg case. I read every article written about this case. In 2017, the eldest of my four children, Kelly, came home and announced that she wanted to study law. As the majority of my children had reached adulthood by then, I told her that if she enrolled, I would too."

At that stage, however, Gibson had spent around 28 years in the field of adult education. She knew all the pedagogy and andragogy of adult learning and had studied Bloom's Taxonomy and all the other adult learning strategies. "I could have probably completed a bachelor's degree in Training and Development: Human Resource Development with my eyes closed and most certainly would have qualified for some recognition of prior learning," she says. "However, my passion was still law, so I took the bull by the horns and registered with Unisa."

The university of choice

Asked why she chose to study at Unisa, Gibson says: "The financial benefits of studying through Unisa were a drawcard. It would have been far more costly for me to attend another university as a full-time student and financially impossible as I was still working full time." She adds: "I must say I was a bit scared about the fact that I would have to self-study – I remembered that when I was at school, I didn’t have much self-motivation, especially when it came to my studies. On the other hand, I had never wanted anything more than to study law so I thought my drive and passion would override all the challenges I may encounter. Also, studying with my daughter meant that I would have someone to study with so it wouldn’t be entirely self-study."

Gibson further adds that the four-year journey which followed was the most amazing experience of her life. "I can truly say I have never been more motivated during those four years," she says. "I still had children at home, my youngest was in Grade 9, was working full time as a team lead on various projects as well as being a wife and, by that time, was a granny too. Yet I woke up early to study, came home and studied. I was and still am incredibly blessed with a husband who supported me throughout and who would take care of the family’s needs to give me time to put extra hours into my studies, I doubt I would have been able to do this without him."

Challenges

While the journey was enjoyable and the support system was present, the four-year journey was not without challenges. Gibson says: "Challenges were immense as I wasn’t used to studying and hadn’t done so for several years. I backed my brain though – never saw myself as not having the capabilities to study. I think, knowing all I did about how adults learn, also helped me in many respects." She adds that Covid-19 and non-exam facilities also brought with them a measure of challenges. Besides the technological challenges imposed on the nature and structure of exams, Gibson also, unfortunately, lost her job in January 2021. This was also her final year, and choosing to see the positive out of a challenging time, she explains: "I enjoyed not having the additional work stress and the fact that I could entirely dedicate my time to my studies."  She also adds: “I found my fourth year, an honours equivalent, to be a massive step up both in terms of the volume of work required but also in terms of the challenging content and I was eternally grateful to have the available time to concentrate solely on my studies." In the same year, she also sat for ten exams, one after the other. "Before I knew it, the results were out and I had passed all ten subjects, obtaining 5/10 distinctions in my final year, and my LLB was all but over."

What now?

When Gibson enrolled for her LLB degree in 2017, her sole purpose was to get a degree, but towards the end of her studies, she began asking herself, "What comes next?". While Gibson is not focused on the professional benefits her new qualification will bring since enrolling to study the degree was a lifelong dream, she hopes that one day she can be admitted as an attorney. But right now, she is simply happy to be registered as a candidate attorney.

"I didn’t hold out any hope of securing a candidate attorney position at my age, but I sent out millions of emails anyway. I never included my CV in any of the emails – I merely stated that I was 58, had just completed my LLB and was looking to secure articles. I mentioned a few benefits of employing an older candidate," she says. Gibson received many responses – mostly turning her down, but some employers said that although they didn’t have a position, they congratulated her and wished her well. Four of the employers she contacted, however, responded and asked for her CV. Eventually, she secured a candidate attorney position. "I have only been a candidate attorney (Legal Practice Council registered), for just over three months, but each day I learn something new. It’s been and continues to be an amazing journey," she says. Furthermore, Gibson says: "At some stage, I would also like to do my LLM and Unisa would be the obvious university of choice."

Asked what advice she has for students at the university, especially those who are at a more mature point in their career paths, Gibson says: "Follow your dreams. I took four years to complete my LLB but that doesn’t mean you have to complete it in that time. No employee ever asks how long it took you to complete your degree. The possibility of bettering your education is in your hands. It is doable. Follow Nike’s motto and 'Just Do It'. Don’t let age, social standing, upbringing, creed, colour, religion, and finances stand in the way of you attaining your heart’s desire. Be committed and dedicated, and just do it," she concludes.

* By Tshimangadzo Mphaphuli, Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement