Roberta Talbot, 45, believes it is never too late to go back to school.

She has just received her Bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting, thanks to an employee educational assistance programme offered by the Fairmont Southampton.

"When I started at the Fairmont Southampton four years ago, during orientation it was mentioned that the hotel offered a programme that could help further my education," she said.

She immediately saw this as an opportunity, because going back to school was one of her long-held dreams.

She had an Associate's degree from Johnson & Wales University in hospitality management.

She had wanted to take it to the Bachelor's degree level, but had to put that goal aside when her eldest daughter, Ciara, was born.

"Furthering my education has always been something in the back of my mind," she said. "Then I married and had two more children, Brittane, 14, Jorae, 13."

The hotel required that she be employed there for a year before starting her studies.

"I waited for a year and then hopped on board."

Although she started out in hospitality management she decided to switch to accounting and business administration.

The career change began for her in 2003 when she was employed at the old Wyndham Bermuda Resort and Spa.

She was working as front office manager at the hotel when it was badly damaged by Hurricane Fabian in September 2003.

"Just before the hurricane I had asked to be transferred to the accounts department," she said. "The front desk was great but my three children were small at the time and the hours weren't always great."

Those plans to be moved had to be put on hold, temporarily.

"Once I did get into accounts work, I found I really enjoyed it," she said.

She went to work for the Fairmont Southampton after Sonesta closed.

She studied for her Bachelor's degree online with the University of Phoenix.

Mrs. Talbot said her husband and children were all very supportive, but it was still sometimes challenging studying and also being a working mother.

"Sometimes time would get away from me and I hadn't done dinner and it was 8 p.m.," she said. "You had to be extremely organised to accomplish everything."

She said she had a few doubts about going back to school. "I had been out of the arena for so long," she said, "I didn't know if I could concentrate again.

"I didn't know whether I could succeed. I had to step up to the wicket and show that I was worthy of this honour (from the Fairmont). As time went along, the thing that was really strong on me was organisation. It is my strength. Everything in my house has to be in its place."

Mrs. Talbot said the hardest part about it was taking time away from her family. "It was hard to find the time to do the things that needed to be done around the house," she said.

But she hoped that her going back to school would inspire her children to persevere in their own endeavours. One of her greatest supporters has been her daughter, Ciara, who is in her first year of medical school.

"She is urging me to go on to get my Master's degree," said Mrs. Talbot. "She has pushed me. She says I have come this far, and I need to go on to my Master's."

Mrs. Talbot hopes to start on her Master's in January. And she is not the only one in her family to be helped by the Fairmont Southampton. This year, Ciara was awarded $5,000 through the John Williams Postgraduate Scholarship awarded by the Fairmont to children and grandchildren of its employees.

The money goes towards Ciara's studies in neonatal medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Mrs. Talbot's advice to other people thinking of going back to school was "just do it".

"I can understand being afraid at first, especially if you have been out of school for awhile. Once you get started it is really not as bad as you anticipated," she said.

In fact, she said being an older student gave her an advantage.

"Being a little older brought maturity into the picture," she said. "It brought a sense of commitment to it. I knew it was now or never. My children were growing up. I wanted my children also to see me doing this."