Keith Burns on the often distressing and impossible difficulty of juggling being a student and a carer

It’s 3am and I have work to do. Fuelled on caffeine tablets and Red Bull, I am frantically trying to get two essays done that are due in for noon. My mum is having a bad night. She had a bad fall yesterday and she is in incredible pain. I had to miss class yesterday to make sure that she is ok and now her cries, wishing that she could chop off her legs, fill the house.

There is nothing that I can do to take away her pain and these essays need to get done. I know that I should try to focus on my essays but there is a huge burden of guilt of not consoling her through the night. I have had to make this decision many times but no matter how many times I do it, it is never an easy one to make.

This is my experience of being a student carer. This constant feeling that I have to choose either my studies or my caring responsibilities. I try to juggle them both but it’s a struggle. I often deal with this struggle on my own, without support.

When I first started higher education there was nothing for student carers, only sympathetic eyes. There was no support in regards to issues with attendance, deadlines, mental health or financial difficulties. Not even a peer support system that I could turn to.

However, things are improving. Due to campaigns such as Going Higher for Student Carers there has been awareness raised of what it means to be a student carer and how higher education institutions and organisations can best identify and support student carers throughout our journey in education and beyond. Through the partnerships that Carers Trust Scotland has developed, more educational institutions have started to develop this support.

While there has been a great deal of progress over the last few years, there is more that needs to be done. More financial support is needed for student carers so that we do not feel that we have to get a job to make ends meet, resulting in student carers having to balance three highly demanding commitments. Mental health support services across Scotland need specific training on the issues student carers face and how best to deal with the often very complex and varied difficulties. Also student unions need to actively engage with student carers and provide opportunities for them to experience all aspects of student life.

This is why events such as the Student Carers in Higher Education: Showcase and Learning Exchange, hosted by Carers Trust Scotland at the University of Strathclyde last Friday (24 March) was so important. Events like that provide a perfect opportunity for professionals from all sectors to hear our experiences as student carers. These events encourage best practice sharing and encourage institutions and organisations to adopt proactive student carers support.

Maybe then, students who are carers like me will have the ability to thrive and not just survive.

Keith Burns is a 23-year-old student carer from Edinburgh.