People

A degree in foreign languages with the OU enabled Donna James to flourish both personally and professionally through her career development.

“But without a doubt, after all of that, my greatest success was passing my degree with First-Class Honours on my 25th birthday – I practically screamed the house down when my result came through! I’d sacrificed so much of my time and cried so many tears of stress and frustration over the six years of studying, that to get that result was just fantastic” says Donna.

In 2012 Donna gained a BA (Hons) in Modern Foreign Languages (French and Spanish) and believes her OU studies were one of reasons she got her current job.

“The company I work for has customers and distributors all over the world, so the fact that I can communicate in French and Spanish was one of the key factors that made them offer me the job in the first place. And I’ve been able to use my languages already, whether it’s following up enquiries or helping to translating quotations and other documents, either from French or Spanish into English or vice versa.”

Donna’s company is really supportive of her studies and would like to develop her skills further so she can engage in active sales with foreign customers. “It looks likely that I will enrol on a technical language course funded by the company and tailored to their specific needs.” Donna is also looking forward to using her language skills when travelling in the future.

Donna came to the OU after originally enrolling at a ‘traditional’ university but found it wasn’t for her.

“The OU seemed like the ideal alternative – I could study from home and get myself a job at the same time to support myself, and the fact that I haven’t got to worry about debt at the end of it is very satisfying.”

During her studies Donna faced some personal challenges including organising a wedding in her fourth year she says was quite stressful. However, now she has finished her degree Donna is really proud of her achievements. “Having to go to work and then motivate yourself to do two or three hours of studying when you get home each and every night is a real feat. But I’m so proud that I managed it, and I’ve proven to myself that with a lot of organisation and dedication it is possible to realise your potential.”

 

Find out more:

• Study languages with the OU
   

Posted 8 April 2013

Joe Pasquale is a third of the way towards his Natural Science degree with the OU, and hoping to finish in the next two years.

Catch up with Joe's progress in his interview in the Mirror.

Photo courtesy of The Mirror

A group of former students of A363, Advanced creative writing, have published an anthology of their work, Here’s one I made earlier.

Several of the contributors have already had work published round the globe, while others write primarily for their own pleasure. Others are working on debut novels. All the pieces were originally written during the course, for assignments. Totalling around 49,000 words, there are fourteen short stories, three life writing pieces and two screenplays.

"This is wonderful news,’ said Dr Derek Neale, OU’s Chair of Advanced Creative Writing and Director of English Teaching, when he heard about the project, ‘encapsulating the aims, ideals and spirit of the course and OU CW teaching…your project offers evidence of imaginative adventure and writing output, but also testifies to the collaborative and interactive spirit of the OU writing courses."

The anthology took around nine months from the initial idea to production. After the assignments were written, the authors put them away, as writers are so often advised, to be able to see them through fresh eyes at a later date.

The editors commented that the authors have shown dedication to produce a published eBook in five weeks whilst juggling busy lives.

Find out more:

• The anthology is available from Amazon for Kindle
• Details to view non-Kindle versions