Carrie on being a student
At 21 I thought I knew everything; 10 years later I realise I actually know very little
I’m about to turn 31. It doesn’t bother me, it’s just a number and doesn’t reflect anything other than how long my heart’s been beating, but being 10 years past the last ‘milestone of my youth’ age is cause for reflection. When I was 21 I: Was three years into my working life Was two years into my mortgage Suffered my first relationship collapse Gave up on the idea that I’d ever like alcohol Was utterly convinced that my employer at the time...
OUSA conference, a bit of business and the serious wobblies...
Over the weekend of the 15th – 17th April 2011 I made more new friends and met more new and interesting people than I could’ve ever imagined and it’s all because I went to the OUSA Conference. I’ve been looking forward to it since I first became involved with OUSA at the back end of last year but had no idea what to expect from it. Conference is the AGM of OUSA; it’s meant to be a business meeting to give members the opportunity to vote...
Been there, graduated, got the t-shirt
I had a little lapse of confidence last week: I started to doubt whether it was worth me bothering to go to a ceremony to graduate when I finish my honours degree. Not because I don’t WANT to, but by the time I get my results it will be next summer before there's a ceremony for me to attend - by which time I’m hoping to be halfway through my masters and would’ve finished my honours degree sooooo long ago that the excitement would’ve...
A scientifically logical and politically unimpassioned standpoint - my March for the Alternative
I wouldn’t call myself political. I’ve only ever exercised my right to vote once and it didn’t make a bit of difference because I live in an old mining community which has been Labour since way before I was even a twinkle in my father’s eye. I don’t wholly believe in socialism, communism, libertarianism, capitalism, anarchism; you name it I don’t wholeheartedly agree with it. It’s not that I can’t make up my mind, I just...
More student monitoring? Tutors can't be expected to babysit too
An interesting article popped up on the BBC Politics News page last week with the headline “Radicalisation review ‘to urge more student monitoring’” which suggests plans for university and college lecturers to monitor students, especially young men who may fall vulnerable to recruitment tactics by extremists. I printed off the article and went through it with my trusty tiny highlighter pen and marked up the bits I considered relevant and arguable (student habits die hard...
If at first you don't succeed, you can always try again
I don’t like to tar myself with a particular brush, but it’s a well-known fact that I’m a drop out. I don’t try to hide it any more as I once may have done but yes; I dropped out of high school. Halfway through my A Levels I got sick and left and at the time, never looked back. When I started studying for my degree with the OU I sort of felt like I’d turned a corner; I’d shed the ghost of the high school dropout which had haunted me...
Filling the gap with study
A brief conversation I had with my beloved the other day went (roughly) as follows: Me: I want to sign up for another OU module. My current one ends in early June but my MSc doesn’t start until late September so I fancy doing something to ‘fill the gap’. Do you think I should do module X which will lead to ‘such and such’ qualification or module Y which would count towards ‘such and such’ qualification? Gordon: Why do you have to do ANY module, why can...
Introducing Carrie Anne Walton BSc Open...
I’ve got my degree. A certificate arrived for me in the post the other day from The OU and it says that I’m now Carrie Anne Walton BSc Open. Hurrah, right? Hmm... Yeah. I thought I’d be more excited too. I suspect the reason I just opened it and thought “oh yeah, nice” was because I’m still working on the ‘Hons’ part of it so the actual degree isn’t really as significant to me as it might be to others. I...
Having one of THOSE days
I’m out of my depth. I’m drowning. My mind has gone blank. I can’t focus. I can’t cope. I’m no good at this. I thought I could manage. What was I thinking? I’ve taken on too much. I’m not clever enough to do it all. I’m letting everyone down, they’d be better off without me. I’m not trying hard enough. I’ve lost my motivation. I’ll never succeed. My life is destined to travel in circles of...
Who inspires me? Well, I've known her forever
I was asked by the Platform editors to write a post for International Women’s Day about a woman or women who inspire me. Excellent, thinks I; there’s gotta be dozens of women I’d like to write about. So I put my thinking cap on and set about deciding who I’d like to write about. I thought of my mother instantly, as I’m sure a lot of people would, but changed my mind. It’s such a cliché and I don’t need to write a...
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…
