从the Race Track to an Archaeologist's Trench

12.07.2019

A mature student who swapped the racetrack for the archaeologist’s trench has graduated from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David with a BA (Hons) in Archaeology with Forensic Studies. He is also joint recipient of the Andrew Lawson Memorial Bursary in Archaeology.

Kenny Owen, 59, from Llandovery, credits the degree with helping him overcome depression that set in after his motor sports business ceased.

“After my motor sport business ceased, I decided to apply for work outside the sport,” he says. “There was no work available even for a seasoned CEO like me. I decided that I needed to re-educate myself and so I looked at UWTSD for courses. I had many childhood dreams, one to become an archaeologist, but university education was never a choice in my younger days. Lampeter ran a course in archaeology with forensics, another desire of mine. So, I signed up.”

Kenny received help from specialist support tutor Lesley Stevens, who discovered that he was dyslexic. She supported him for an hour a week during his second and third years and was delighted with his progress.

“Kenny was a very motivated and meticulous student, his files were colour coded and he always had to have his essays written and submitted well before the deadline,” she says. “He was very proactive in lectures and liked to be involved with everything and anything that was going on. His dedication to his work and his studies always impressed me - he constantly strived to do better.”

While his studies were sometimes a challenge, Kenny found that his confidence gradually increased as the course progressed. He achieved good marks and graduated this week with a 2i.

“Returning to education has stretched my cognitive powers, to breaking point at times,” he says. “I suffered depression after losing my work in motor sport, although at the time, I did not realise how deep this was ingrained. Studying helped me to overcome my illness and gave me back my pride, confidence and my past extrovert nature.”

He recently worked at Strata Florida Abbey archaeological site near Tregaron as part of a team who featured on the BBC and is hoping to gain more work in the field.

“I truly love getting my hands dirty with a trowel and getting to grips hands-on with archaeology,” he says. “As for the future, well, let's see.”

To find out more about the Archaeology courses offered at UWTSD, please visit//www.guaguababy.com/ba-archaeology/

进一步的信息

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