Teresa's story

Going to university just wasn’t considered in Teresa’s large family and despite having a flair for writing she was branded as ‘stupid’.  She was inspired when as a carer she looked after a severely disabled woman who got two degrees with the OU, typing one letter at a time with her cheek.  Now, and despite coping with her own disability, she is fulfilling her promise as ‘a born writer’. 

Here's what Teresa has to say about her OU journey

I was one of 10 children and as the third oldest performed the role of a ‘mini mum’ at home.  Education was not the main focus of my parents' life, they didn’t push us and I couldn’t wait to leave school.

I don’t think I was stimulated at school and the only subjects I enjoyed were cookery and drama.  I was top of the school in an English Literature exam but everyone still thought I was stupid and that was a stigma that was attached to me.

I left school and went into a number of jobs, McDonald’s, waitress in a hotel on YTS and making Christmas decorations and then I left Wales and worked at Butlins Minehead for two seasons before going to Newcastle to do a performing arts course.

Then my cousin, who I was close to, was run over and paralysed so I came back to look after him and his siblings. I had hoped to continue my course in Wales but couldn’t. Eventually I left for London and was a nanny for some teachers who encouraged me into further education and I did an NVQ in child care, which I enjoyed.

During my performing arts course I had written a five minute play for an exam and started a play when my cousin had his accident.  My tutor then said I was a born writer. I had a troubled relationship, could not have children and my life was an emotional rollercoaster.  When I was in my 30s, my counsellors advised me to write to let my emotions out.

I got a job as a 24-hour carer for a lady with locked in syndrome. She could only move her cheek but had done two degrees, touch typing one letter after another.  She had been a solicitor and was an educated woman and told me she was not ready to give up.  She had done her degrees with The Open University and it triggered something in my head and I enrolled on the OU course Y180 Making Sense of the Arts and then decided I would try for a degree and signed up for English Literature and Creative Writing . At that time I was working with people with spinal injuries and then, in August 2013 I was registered disabled myself.

I had Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia badly affecting my mobility, and I couldn’t work.  I didn’t want to give up and when I spoke to the OU about my health challenges they were absolutely amazing.  Someone came to assess me and we chatted, but I didn’t realise she was jotting down my needs as we spoke and recommending things I needed, like help holding a book, which I hadn’t thought about.  I felt I could turn to the OU at any time with anything.

I now have Dragon voice activation software and can claim for extra paper and inks because I have to print off more material than other people. Although I was on a low wage as a carer I was not eligible for funding, when I had to stop work the full cost of my course was covered.

The learning materials are brilliant and I am sent them in disc format if I cannot read a physical book.  My first tutor was lovely and really encouraged me.  In my first year I was struggling to get 70 per cent marks, this year my lowest mark was 77 per cent for my creative writing and I have just got a 94 per cent.

I try and get to as many tutorials as I can, illness permitting and if it is possible I can go with a carer for the journey.  Despite it being distance learning you do not have to be lonely.  This year I have been on the OU Facebook pages and am project managing a TMA group. 

I had volunteered to be co-ordinator but no one wanted to do it so I became PM as well.  You can make friends with other students and, because I didn’t have any transport, a tutor posted a message on the OU forum and someone who lives near me saw it and has taken me to tutorials.

Studying can be hard and on some days you cannot get out of bed or concentrate because of the pain, but if I was at a normal university that would go against me. 

I would recommend the OU 100 per cent and without hesitation to others in the same boat as myself. 

I cannot fault the OU, not only did they stop me from falling into a pit of self-pity but they have given me back that passion for writing and something positive to think about.

Who knows with a degree I could have another career in later life?

I thought you had to be well spoken to do something like getting a degree because that is what my parents always said.  But I am achieving so much.  At a tutorial my tutor pulled me to one side and said ‘I can see you getting your cap and gown, and I will be there to see you get it’.