" I never set out specifically to do a degree - if you’d asked me a few years ago I’d have said they were only for really clever people!
I’d left school with a few O-levels and had enjoyed quite a good career but then I gave birth to my son Tom. Having children really changes you. It was nice being at home but the time came when I felt the need to do something.
I thought it would be particularly good to do some sort of early years course, so that although obviously I had my own experience with Tom, I could learn more about him. To do that I started at the OU with a social sciences course and that was also very interesting and relevant to me because I had worked in social benefits previously.
Having a very young child and a job, while studying with the OU, was very difficult, but you get used to juggling to make time for everything. I was quite organised before, but OU study definitely makes you more so! I found my tutors to be really supportive, which helped enormously.
So I did my first courses, and then specialised in early years, and just naturally progressed from one to the next. It really wasn’t my intention to get a degree but the courses were so interesting I just kept going.
And now it’s given me a whole new career! I started working in the child care field as a volunteer, then employed in different childcare settings as a practitioner, and then got a job with Surestart. I’m now an Assistant Development Officer and helping children and families who were in the same situation I was in.
And I haven’t stopped studying yet. I’ve got an interview for a research doctorate, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep learning. "
Karen Lee
BSc (Hons) Social Sciences
Certificate in Early Years Practice
