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<em>This paper draws upon the metaphor of the “hero’s journey” to further analyse seven stories of women returning to education. These stories have formed the basis of a recent book publication by the authors (Stone &amp; O’Shea, 2012) and are derived from two complementary but separate research studies (O’Shea, 2007; Stone, 2008).  None of the women featured in this article have a parent who went to university and all have a number of competing demands in their lives including families, partners and employment. This paper aims to both frame the richly descriptive nature of these stories within a heroic metaphor and also to indicate how these stories, whilst unique, share common thematic elements and turning points. The paper foregrounds these commonalities capturing a universal narrative and also explores how this mythical framework could be used by both educators and students to conceptualise movements within this environment.</em><br />