‘If I want to change, I have to start it’
When our scholar Sania was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, she thought everything had ended. ‘I believed I had lost every opportunity, every bit of direction, and every part of the future I had imagined for myself.’ Instead, it has become a beginning
A year into my sentence, I moved onto the Open unit and worked in housekeeping for about six months. It was honest work but it was also the kind of job that gives you a lot of time to think. One particular day, things felt heavy. I was tired, physically, mentally, emotionally. I remember thinking, ‘I can’t do this forever. I need something to change’.
Around that time, another woman on the unit said something, when we were talking casually, that I will never forget. ‘You have so much potential. You shouldn’t waste it. Have you ever thought about doing your Master’s?’
The truth was, I hadn’t. Not seriously. I had an undergraduate degree already and had worked as a manager at Amazon before my sentence, but I had never considered going further. Yet her words stuck with me. They settled somewhere deep, right where hope had been sitting quietly waiting for a moment like this. And that was the moment the idea of returning to education was planted.
‘I definitely didn’t expect to be accepted on the spot’
One bad day at the housekeeping job pushed me to act on that thought. Instead of letting frustration spiral, I told myself, ‘if I want change, I have to start it’. So I decided to go to a university open day. I didn’t expect much. I definitely didn’t expect to be accepted on the spot. But that’s exactly what happened.
I applied for a Master’s in business computing and was offered a place immediately. Suddenly, I had something to look forward to, something that belonged to my future rather than my past. I started the course in September 2024 and finished in September 2025, just as my sentence came to an end. In November 2025, I graduated with a distinction. Even now, those words feel surreal.
‘Studying from custody came with challenges’
People often imagine Open conditions as straightforward, but studying from custody came with challenges I never expected. One of the biggest issues was timing. To attend university, I needed a ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence), but sometimes the schedules weren’t processed in time. If that happened, I simply couldn’t go out to university. Missing a lecture or a study session wasn’t just inconvenient. It could mean falling behind or having to work twice as hard to catch up.
There was also the issue of access to technology. In the Open unit, we weren’t allowed to have laptops, which meant I could only work on campus. No matter how motivated you are, that creates pressure. Assignments had to be squeezed into the hours I was physically allowed to be at university. If I missed a day, I missed my work time.
Still I kept going. I learned to make the best of what I had. I pushed through the obstacles, not because it was easy, but because it mattered. Every challenge became part of my journey rather than a reason to stop.
When I first entered prison, I felt like everything had been taken from me: my job; my freedom; my confidence; and, honestly, my sense of who I was. The Master’s degree changed that. It gave me a direction. It gave me my identity back. It reminded me that I am someone who can achieve, who can work hard, who has a future beyond my sentence. Studying became more than gaining knowledge. It was gaining myself.
‘People can take anything away from you, but they can’t take your knowledge’
My mum always told me, ‘people can take anything away from you, but they can’t take your knowledge’. I used to brush that off, but now I understand it deeply. Everything else can fall apart, but what you learn becomes something no one can ever remove from your hands.
When I was released, I didn’t just come out of prison. I came out as a graduate with a distinction. I came out with confidence and purpose. I came out feeling ready to face the world again. My Master’s degree has opened new doors for me, not just in terms of employment, but in how I feel about myself and what I believe I am capable of. It will be something I lean on every time I apply for a job, every time I speak about my journey, every time I face something difficult. I went in thinking I had lost everything. I came out realising I had gained far more.
‘Education doesn’t just pass the time. It builds you’
To anyone in prison reading this, please don’t give up on yourself. Education doesn’t just pass the time. It builds you. It strengthens you. It gives you a focus when everything feels chaotic. It reminds you that your story isn’t finished, no matter what mistakes you’ve made.
If you have the chance to study, take it. Even if it feels scary. Even if you think you’re not smart enough. Even if life has knocked your confidence out of you. Because if I can finish a Master’s degree while serving a sentence, navigating ROTLs, and working only from campus hours, you can too.
Your future is still yours. And your potential is still there, waiting.
Find out more about Longford Scholarships. Applications for 2026 close on 1 May.