Everyday Heroes: My mother Hayley

By Kirstyn Evans, Second Year English

TWSS x The Croft
As part of our Women Empowerment series, the Croft asked people to write about strong women in their lives who inspire them. Second Year English student Kirstyn chose her mother, and gives her reasons why.

It feels cliché and quite frankly, totally biased, but my mother is the strongest, most beautiful and all-round best woman I’ve ever met (apologies to my older sister Rhiannon, but you can’t really argue with me over this). I’m in awe of just how much she has accomplished within her life when the odds have been stacked against her so thoroughly.

Moving out of her family home at the age of 17, she had her first child at 19 and three children by the time she was 23. Being a young mother is tough enough as it is, especially when considering how much of a nightmare myself and my siblings were. From me almost killing my sister by throwing a literal brick at her head when I was four years old, to my brother concussing himself when a tire swing snapped mid-swing and his head landed on the ground two inches away from a nail (Liam, I’m sorry that when you lost your memory I convinced you it was your birthday and nobody bought you any presents. Please find comfort in the fact that this incident still makes me ugly laugh), it is fair to say she has had her work cut out. The biggest understatement of the century, but nonetheless accurate.

Whilst my father was working himself to the bone every day, my mother spent her days making sure her three nightmares didn’t break any. Legend. Before long, family finances meant that my mother had to return to work. My mother has always worked, the earliest job I can remember being one at a furniture company where they made and refurbished wooden furniture. This job was in Scotland, and after moving to South Wales she was in and out of work because - to reiterate my earlier sentiment - my siblings and I were EVIL. After a prolonged period whereby none of us had tried to kill anyone, she decided to get a part-time job in a local café.

Not long after this, when I was around ten years old, my mother decided she would like to go to university to study art. At first, she was apprehensive – how could she look after three children (two in primary school and one in secondary school at this point), whilst holding down a job and simultaneously focusing on her studies? My mother has always told me that she found this decision particularly difficult – she did not want to lose time with her children, but it was always her dream to go to university. As the kids say, the 'struggle was real’, and she applied on the very last day that the university was accepting applications.

Fast forward four years later and she graduated with a 2:1 in art (one mark from a First as she keeps reminding me) from Cardiff University. We all have days where we feel we could really do with missing the odd lecture or seminar, but as a single, childless student I feel I have next to no excuse seeing as my mother is a literal machine. Nowadays she’s a very successful tattooist, and I couldn’t be prouder to say she’s my mum. She’s accomplished everything that she’s ever wanted to do, and she keeps on raising the bar.