A stunning second act! Meet the people who changed course in midlife – and loved it
It can feel as if our options narrow with every passing year. But taking a big risk could mean the second half of your life is much more exciting and fulfilling than the first
Alison Webster was once showing prospective students around the university where she was studying medicine when a sixth former said: “You’re so old – why are you even doing this?” Webster laughs at the memory, home after the end of a shift as an A&E doctor. “I said, ‘When you go home, ask your mum if she likes her life. I bet there’s something your mum’s always wanted to do that she’s not had the opportunity to do because of you. Ask what her dreams were, and see if she has fulfilled them.’”
Webster’s childhood dream was to be a doctor, but she didn’t do well in her A-levels, “so that got put to one side. But it was always in there.” She ran a music distribution company, but as she approached her 40s, the business was struggling and she had started to wonder what to do with the rest of her life. Was a career in medicine really out of reach?