At the age of 65, Men Behaving Badly actress Caroline Quentin is to begin a postgraduate diploma after leaving school at 16 with a "couple" of O levels.
The star has enjoyed a long and varied career in TV and theatre, and over the last few years has turned her hand to growing vegetables and flowers at her home, even writing a book about gardening to share her passion for it.
Now, Caroline is taking on an entirely different challenge as she heads to university to study for a postgraduate diploma in the history of art at the Courtauld Institute in London.
"I recently wrote my first essay in 50 years," the actress tells Saga magazine, adding, "It was part of my application to study for a postgraduate diploma. I’ve just been accepted and I can’t talk about it without crying as this is the course of my dreams."
Caroline shares that after leaving school at 16 "with a couple of O levels" and not taking on university or any higher education, she's "thrilled" to be given the opportunity to study at this point in her life.
The actress lives with her husband Sam, with whom she shares children, Rose and William, both who have flown the nest. Along with being "so supportive" of her decision to study, Caroline reveals her family have also made a few jokes about it.
"The kids keep teasing me that I’ll be able to get a student discount card and go to the Student Union bar," she says, adding, "It’ll be difficult – and I’m doing it over two years so I can keep working – but the best things in life often involve hard work."
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Sharing further insight into her love of gardening and being outside, Caroline says that nature has "saved my mental health."
Revealing that her mother was bipolar, she sys that she can also experience "a volatile emotional life" and goes through "lows sometimes and I get highs as well."
She explains, "The best thing is stepping outside, just listening to birds, being quiet, settling myself, listening to the wind in the trees – my blood pressure drops, my heart slows down."
Caroline even feels that the "valuable resource" of nature can act as a "doctor for every ill." One of her favourite things to do is to stand beneath very old trees.
She explains, "Sometimes standing underneath an old beech tree can lift you – the realisation that this tree has been there for hundreds of years and things can come good again. There will be spring, the leaves will unfurl."
Reflecting on the "cyclical" nature of life and the part humans have in this, Caroline concludes, "Going for a walk is also powerful – even if I have just 15 minutes, if I’m worrying about something and go for a walk, I’m cured by the time I come home. Magic!"
