This represents a total change of career for the mum of two who ran her own childminding business for the past eight years.
In many ways, her career has come full circle since she started working in a hospital two decades ago.
“When I was 16, I worked as a cleaner, alternating between the theatre and the delivery suite in the maternity ward,” said Bridie.
“Never in a million years did I ever think it would be possible for me to become a midwife. I thought it would be too far out of my reach,” she said.
“I ended up doing tourism and dental technology courses but knew straight away that they weren’t for me.”
After her two daughters Bella, now aged eight, and Olivia, who’s four were born, Bridie set up her own childminding business.
“I have a cabin outside of my home and have looked after six kids – including my own two – for the last eight years,” she said.
“So that’s what helped give me the confidence to progress to the next stage and decide to become a midwife.
“I enrolled for Maths and English classes at the College’s Newtownabbey campus and sat my GCSE exams. My next step was to do the Access Diploma and apply for university. I was accepted by Queen’s to study Midwifery, and I still can’t believe my journey to date.”
She added: “To me, the Access course is a real stepping-stone that no one really knows about.”
Bridie, who is the eldest of five and the first in her family to go to university, said she loved her time at Northern Regional College.
Her enthusiasm for learning is infectious and it prompted her siblings to follow in in her footsteps:
‘My three sisters all signed up for Maths and English classes this year and they hope to progress to do the Access Diploma next year. I was just the first of us to do it,” she said.
Helen Hampsey, VP for Teaching and Learning at Northern Regional College, said Bridie’s journey highlighted the different pathways people can follow to get a professional qualification:
“We offer a range of courses that allow mature students to return to learning at any stage to reskill and upskill.
“The Access Diploma in Social Sciences which is validated by Ulster University opens up many opportunities to a variety of university degrees, and many of our former Access students have, like Bridie, secured a place on some of the most competitive courses like Midwifery and Nursing.
Helen added that the Level 3 Extended Diploma in subjects including Applied Science, Business, Children’s Care Learning and Development, Computing, Engineering, Health and Social Care, Travel and Tourism, offered an alternative route to university for students who did not want to do A Levels but still wanted to go to university.
“The Level 3 Extended Diploma is a vocational course which is equivalent to three A levels and can be an excellent stepping-stone to university. Indeed, 11 of the 85 students accepted for Midwifery at Queen’s this year studied at Northern Regional College and many of our former students are at university studying other subjects, including Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Biomedical Science, Education, Engineering, Computing and Creative Media just to name a few.”