Graduation

Edna Douce is following her Open University  graduation with a gap year – at the age of 93.

She collected her degree in English Literature with Humanities at the Birmingham Graduation Ceremony in June.

Edna, from Sutton Coldfield, began studying at the age of 89 after her husband died.

She told the icsuttoncoldfield website: “It really was a delight to learn again.

“It’s opened up so many new opportunities for me and I now belong to the University’s Women’s Group and Book Club too.

“I’m planning to have a gap year but hope to be back to study for a Masters in English in 2013,” she said.

Rhiannon Martyn, acting regional director of the Open University for the West Midlands said Edna’s story was one of the most inspirational of the whole ceremony.

“She is indeed a testament to the OU being a university for people of all ages who can learn at their own pace and choose a course that fits their lifestyle,” she said adding that 10 per cent of OU students are over the age of 55.
 

• Study with the OU

Find out what it's like to graduate from The Open University with this video footage from the  degree ceremony at Ely Cathedral in June 2011...

AT 71 Janet Tassell has no intention of living the life of an ‘old woman’.

Great-grandmother Janet, of Ely, has just graduated from the Open University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. She has been a support worker for the Cambridgeshire Youth Offending Service for seven years.

“I suppose most people think that once you turn 65 you’ve got to retire and put your feet up. But for me an age means nothing,” she told the Ely Weekly News.

“I might be getting older but I don’t feel like an old woman yet and I don’t want to start living like one,” she said.

Janet began studying three years ago and said the OU was great as it enabled her to study around her everyday life.

“Obviously I’m pleased with myself but I don’t see it as anything extraordinary, like people keep telling me it is. I’d urge everyone to give it a go, your age doesn’t matter,” she said.

Janet will attend her graduation ceremony in September.

Useful links

• Study with the Open University
• Go to Ely Weekly News

Rachel Extance, assistant news editor with the Cambridge News, has just graduated from the OU and wanted to share her success with her readers. In a column in the newspaper she works for, she describes how stumbling across the OU changed her life –  achieving a degree and meeting her future husband through the OU Students' Association...

“It all started with a book about cheese. I’d moved jobs, was living hundreds of miles away from my friends and was looking for something to do other than work. So my dad sent me a little book called Who Moved My Cheese? about a mouse searching for fulfilment, in the only medium available to a rodent – really good quality Cheddar...

“With the OU, all you need is to take a couple of clicks of your computer mouse, and who knows where your life will lead?”

Read Rachel's full story in the Cambridge News.

Picture credit: Cambridge News

They included hundreds of students from across Scotland as well as a handful from abroad.

Scottish graduates included Dr Hamish Boyd, a retired physician who first graduated in 1947, who at 85 was the oldest person to graduate on the day; Linda Walker, 48, a care home manager from Wishaw who has just completed her third degree, and Louise Farquharson, 45, an office manager from Edinburgh who left school at 15, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature.

Alongside these Scottish students, two Greek, one Belgian, two Indian students and a student from Italy also attended the graduation.

Scotch whisky fan, Mark Van Aken from Antwerp, graduated with an MA in Social Sciences and chose the OU because of the high quality of course material and because it was, “the only way for me to combine studying with a professional life”. He also chose to graduate in Glasgow.

Mark added: “This ceremony is the perfect excuse for a city trip to Glasgow. My wife has never been to Scotland, and I have not been to Glasgow. On top of that, I am a big whisky fan.”

Although the challenge of completing a degree course while working, as over 70 per cent of OU students do, requires great focus and commitment, the benefits are considerable.

Many of this year’s graduates cited increased personal confidence, an appetite for further study and improved career prospects as the key benefits.

Their statements underline the results of a recent MORI which found that two thirds (67 per cent) of those questioned in Scotland, said that improving their career prospects would be the biggest benefit of a return to part-time higher education.

Speaking on the eve of the graduation ceremony, Dr James Miller, Director of The Open University in Scotland said: “I am immensely proud of all our students who are graduating today, many of whom have overcome significant personal challenges to achieve their award or degree.

“The flexible, part-time provision offered by the Open University allows students to study at a time, place and rate that suit their particular circumstances.

“For some of our graduates this flexibility has enabled them to re-train or up-skill to progress in their careers, while for others returning to study later in life has given them greater confidence in themselves and in the contribution they can make to society.”
 

• Dates for OU degree ceremonies 2012
• New courses at the OU 
   

Huw Stephens, the Cardiff-born BBC Radio 1 DJ and founder of the Swn Festival, has received the honorary degree of Doctor of The Open University for "exceptional contribution to education and culture." After reporting from the degree ceremony on Saturday 7 May 2011 at St David's Hall, Cardiff, via Twitter [1], Huw agreed to a short twinterview (that's an interview via Twitter) with the Platform team. Here it is (don't forget to read it from the bottom up as newest tweets appear at the top)...     *More about Huw...* Huw Stephens was born in Cardiff in 1981. He joined BBC Radio 1 at the age of 17, becoming the youngest presenter to work on the network. Radio 1 in Wales, which he co-presented with Bethan Elfyn, was aired for seven years, showcasing new Welsh music. Huw started his own One Music show in 2007, and now hosts two BBC Radio 1 shows a week, as well as presenting regularly across the network. Huw’s first language is Welsh, and he presents weekly shows on BBC Radio Cymru, championing new music from Wales, and hosts programmes on S4C, including Bandit, the long-running music series. Huw was for three years the Student Radio Awards Chair, and is co-founder of the Boobytrap and Am record labels. He hosts the main stage at Reading Festival, promotes gigs for up-and-coming artists, and founded the annual Swn Festival in Cardiff, which focuses on new music talent. *Useful links* * Huw Stephens gets OU honorary degree - the full story [2] * Huw Stephens on Twitter [3]   [1] http://twitter.com/#!/huwstephens [2] http://www8.open.ac.uk/platform/news-and-features/bbc-radio-1-dj-awarded-ou-honorary-degree [3] http://twitter.com/huwstephens

Cardiff-born BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens was recognised for his "exceptional contribution to education and culture" by the Open University at Wales when he was given an honorary degree in Cardiff.

Huw was one of 300 people to receive degrees at the ceremony at St David’s Hall on 7 May 2011. 

Professor Trevor Herbert of the OU delivered the citation on behalf of the university, and in presenting the award of Doctor of the University, he said: “Huw Stephens has quickly emerged as one of the world’s most intelligent authorities on British pop music – and certainly its most articulate advocate. The persistent theme in his work is discovery.Discovery of new talent through studious listening and an open-minded approach to the mass of creative outputs he encounters.

“His work shows a commitment to Welsh culture and the place that popular music has in making the very idea of Welsh culture real in the contemporary world, especially to the young.He is a master in his field.”

Huw only returned to the UK the day before the ceremony having spent a week in Kenya with the Action Aid UK charity, seeing some of their work. Accepting his award, and speaking to an audience of over a thousand guests at St David’s Hall, and many more in central Cardiff watching on the local BBC Big Screen, Huw joked that he had to explain to his excited nieces and nephews that he was becoming “Dr Huw not Dr Who”!

In his speech, Huw went on to say: “It is with great pleasure that I accept this honorary degree from the Open University. I became BBC Radio 1's youngest ever DJ when I was 17, much to the bewilderment of my Professor father and my mother, Mam a Dad who are here today, and so I never got the chance to study for a degree as you here today have. And because of that, as you can imagine, I am doubly grateful for this great honour.

“I consider myself lucky in my job, in that I get to hear a lot of great new music from Wales, and the rest of the world, on a daily basis. Being a fan and keen promoter of emerging talent, I know how much hard work and commitment go into creating something, whether that be a song or a gig.

“I firmly believe that music is not only a form of entertainment, but a most vital part of our contemporary culture. I have seen first hand how music can change lives; it can affect emotions, enhance creativity, and promote understanding of various cultures. It can also provide opportunities that can take people on the most remarkable journeys, both geographical and more importantly, personal. Music has done this for me, and it's my absolute pleasure to be able to recognise, nurture and celebrate outstanding talent in others.

“Today is a proud and humbling one for me. Being here in my home city of Cardiff with you who have worked so hard to gain your degrees is an absolute pleasure and honour. I offer all graduates my most heartfelt congratulations.”

After Devon teenager Claire McVey died from vCJD, her mother Annie began a law degree with the OU to help her navigate the legal system in her battle for compensation...

“Claire had been interested in law and she might well have gone on to study it herself if she had had the chance,” she said. “It was a terrible loss to the family – it should have been us going to her graduation ceremony.”

Claire McVey died from the human form of BSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, in 2000. She was aged just 15 and was one of only 177 known victims worldwide. Her death plunged mother Annie into a long battle over compensation claims for victims’ families.

Annie began studying law with the OU in 2004. “When Claire died, we were thrown into this political and legal melee, but it wasn’t a legal system that I recognised," she said. "There was this yawning gap between the pure sense of justice that most of us have, and the legal system I was suddenly involved in. I felt I needed to understand it.”

Ms McVey is disabled and the OU was able to support her in her studies, allowing her to take exams at home and giving her extended deadlines on coursework. “My health has actually improved while I was doing the course, and I think a large part of that is the discipline of the OU and having to meet deadlines," she said. "It was also a good distraction and I met some fantastic people – it also made me more argumentative and more determined.”

Last year Ms McVey and other families took their case to the High Court over what they claimed was a ‘flawed’ Government compensation scheme. But their challenge and a subsequent Court of Appeal action failed. 

Annie now plans to become a qualified legal executive, and hopes to go on to take a Masters degree in Medical Ethics.

“I cannot praise the Open University highly enough,” she said. “It allows people like me who can’t go to university full time, to study for a degree. And the quality of the courses and the support they have given me has been excellent.

“My partner Wayne and other members of the family are now following my example and studying with the OU.”

Useful links

• Services for Disabled Students at the OU 

A flight attendant, a musician, a teacher to be and volunteer in Rwanda - watch video interviews with four graduates at the OU's degree ceremony in Brighton in April 2011.

Karen Woollard's degree proved invaluable when she volunteered as a VSO special needs teacher in Rwanda.

Beryl Lovett talks about finally achieving the degree she began studying for in 1996 and how she plans to train as a teacher.

Ceri Stenner studied for his degree while working as a musician at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne.

Andy Cassidy's books went all round the world with him as he studied while working as a flight attendant for Qantas.