Mary Phillips

Mary Phillips, an OU honours student, encourages all those with disabilities to keep studying and not to give up in aiming for their goals.

I have been totally blind from birth, having received only a basic education in my school for the blind and with no academic qualifications I made a living as an audio typist until early retirement.

However, a chance conversation with my nephew about OU broadcasts changed everything. He told me that he had a met a blind student on an OU summer school and encouraged me to apply for a course.

So I first became an OU student in 1993. After beginning on an Arts foundation course I quickly switched to Social Sciences and have never looked back.

Although I have taken several breaks from studying l’ve now achieved honours after graduating with a BSc in 2002 and this has enabled me to become a governor at a school for blind and partially sighted children with additional disabilities where I feel I am respected.

I would like to pay tribute to all my Tutors, but especially to the unsung heroes of the OU such as the readers who spend hours reading the textbooks on to audio without whom it would have been impossible for me, as a totally blind student, to have succeeded. Well done, OU, and thank you.