Carrie on being a student
Here's my 'meet and greet' post for Cybher blogging conference
If I have any regular readers out there in cyber space you’ll know by now that I’m pretty much always on the lookout for opportunities. By opportunities I mean either things to volunteer for, places to go and visit, exciting things to try and things/events to attend which sound interesting. It’s been mistakenly suggested that I somehow ‘find’ loads of interesting things to see and do when in fact I just copy off loads of other people. I see something interesting...
Why I get to 'Carrie' on being an OU student...
I always thought that when I finished my degree that would be it – my goal accomplished and I could move on. Well that changed when I decided to go a step further and work towards a Masters and ultimately try for a PhD. It’s the natural education progression isn’t it; undergrad to postgrad to research. It crossed my mind a few times that somewhere way in the future I might like to go back and perhaps do another degree, maybe turn my BSc Open into a named degree, but I always...
Can I afford to study or not to study, that is the question...
I always love and hate this time of year in equal measure. I love it because it’s psychologically a new start; new opportunities, new chances to improve on the you of last year and new ways of thinking. Great. But then I hate it because at this time of the year I’m ALWAYS skint. ALWAYS. It’s partly my own fault this time, I’ve been a bit careless with my finances the past few months and just before Christmas I booked tickets for Gordon and I to go to Barcelona for his...
I've had a study epiphany!
Happy New Year everyone! I certainly hope you all had a good one and that you’re all refreshed and ready for the year ahead, because I can feel already that it’s going to be a belter! Friday 6th January is Epiphany. In the Christian faith this is celebrated as the day which saw the revelation of Jesus Christ as the son of God. This revelation is now a common word used to describe anything which becomes suddenly clear to you or a sudden comprehension of...
My Christmas poem
Well it’s a year since the last one (my attempt at a rhyme) And my god has a lot happened during that passing of time For starters I’ve finally finished it, my long-running BSc Yep, it’s done and dusted now and I’ve been given my precious degree But even though it’s done, and I could’ve called it a day I’ve continued with my studies so that one day I may Be even more proud to say that I have an MA And that my yearning for learning always with me,...
My day as an OU guest speaker...
A few weeks ago I got an invitation to be a guest speaker at the Open University’s Combined Communications Conference, an internal conference which aims to improve all aspects of communication by the university. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance whilst at the same time being a bit nervous about having to stand up in front of 150 OU staff and tell the (in my opinion) quite mundane story of my experience with the OU. I’ve never thought of myself as anything other than a...
My top five Christmas gifts for OU students...
IT’S CHRIIIIISSSSMMMAAASSS!! Nearly. So when it comes to presents, what do you buy for the typical OU student? Well it’s easy to trawl the internet and find gifts for students but they’re all so ‘teenage student’ and us OU students are far too mature and intelligent for beer can baseball hats and USB timewaster toys (well, debatable really). So here’s my top five gift ideas for OU students (disclaimer: really it’s just a list of things I think are...
It's confession time...
I’ve toiled for weeks over whether to write this blog post. I’ve asked for expert advice and opinion and everyone tried desperately to encourage me to write it, but something kept holding me back. That thing was shame. But I’ve decided in the spirit of my ‘job’ as student blogger (i.e. to write about the trials and tribulations of being a ‘normal’ student) that it’s in everyone’s best interests for me to just go...
Does anyone else want to study EVERYTHING?!
Does anyone else have the same problem as I do? Does anyone else just want to study EVERYTHING!! When I was in school I always wanted to be a vet but I was rubbish at science so I quashed that idea fairly early on. Midway through high school I decided that philosophy was my kind of subject and said that if I ever went to uni I’d study that. So I did. My second and third OU modules were philosophy ones and I teamed them with social science modules as it seemed a logical thing to do and a...
A celebrity-obsessed and educationally apathetic generation?
I listened to a very disturbing discussion on the radio the other day whilst I was sat in the car eating my lunch. The discussion was regarding the alleged obsession among our new youth with fame and celebrity status. The premise of the programme was that the ‘youth of today’ are becoming dangerously obsessed with the idea that fame is achievable for everyone and that fame is somehow an easy way to earn money without having to get a real job. I think the...
About Carrie Walton
I dropped out of school at 17, halfway through my A Levels and got a job. I’ve worked full time ever since, but when I reached 23 I enrolled with the OU and started on a journey towards the degree I’d never stopped wanting. In 2009 and aged 29 I realised I didn’t want my journey to end and formulated a new plan which includes a masters, a PhD, research and whatever else I might be able to cram into a journey now held under the umbrella term “lifelong learning and ongoing self-improvement”.
I finished my BSc (hons) Open in December 2011 by which time I'd already started on an MA in Social Science research at Durham University with a view to doing a doctorate in the not too distant future. The OU isn’t getting rid of me that easy though, I've already signed up for a BSc (hons) in Criminology and Psychological Studies and I plan to keep studying with them for as long as grey matter will allow me to, it’s all part of my never ending lifelong learning path.
Alongside studying, I work full time for a building contractor in the North East of England as a Liaison Manager. Working is a means of affording and appreciating the things I really enjoy; mountain biking, hiking, theatre, gigs, cinema, eating out, writing, the list could go on, I just like doing things. In whatever spare time I can muster after that, I volunteer for OUSA and am a school governor.
My name is Caz (or Carrie) and this is my journey from dogsbody to doctorate…
