A candid and compelling coming-of-age memoir, Unit Two charts one man’s struggle to find his path, and the unexpected turn that finally led to fulfilment.
Synopsis
My one A Level in Maths got me into an HND course in Building at Trent Polytechnic. But I was still struggling academically. I was on the wrong route. I should have been playing football. I failed the first year exams and had to retake them, and I scraped through. The second year was continuous assessment which was much better with. My homework was always good. But I came seriously unstuck in the final exam. I failed Quantity Surveying, but I wasn’t on my own. All the rest of the class had failed too. The lecturer had set an exam that would have been hard for full-time Quantity Surveyors. We simply had not covered the questions.
The Polytechnic were appalled; they couldn’t fail an entire year, so they doubled the Quantity Surveying mark, which put everyone through, except me. Fortunately, I had done an excellent project, so they substituted my marks from that for my Quantity Surveying mark. I had scraped through the HND. Now what do I do?
I failed on my first job as a Site Engineer, unable to set out drainage outlets in a concrete slab. I had not been shown how to do it. So I got the sack. In Building magazine, I saw an advert for a Trainee Estimator at Goatherd Construction. I had no real liking for Estimating at college, but at least I would be on a proper training course in one place. I would not have to travel all over the country as I was doing as a Site Engineer. I got the job and started my training, but the job didn’t suit me. It was too pressurised. It gave me nervous stomach pain. I saw an advert in the office bulletin for a Planning Surveyor in Gloucester. I got the job, but the Chief Estimator at Goatherd was furious. He said he hadn’t spent four years training me for me to up and leave when I felt like it. I talked him round, explaining about my nervous stomach. He eventually shook my hand and wished me well in my new career.
It was the best thing I ever did. I was good at Planning Surveying. I really enjoyed it. It was the first time since I was 10 years old that I was doing something I actually enjoyed.
From academic failure and workplace missteps to the quiet triumph of discovering a career he truly loved, Paul Studer’s story is a relatable journey of perseverance, self-discovery, and hope.
