From the age of 16 Amanda Halifax dreamt of becoming a PE teacher, however, instead of being able to pursue her dreams after school, she had to go out to work. Taking on any jobs just so that she could pay her bills, at one point Amanda found herself having to work 3 jobs as she needed the money. The day that Amanda dropped off her youngest child at university she decided that she was going to follow in her children’s footsteps and get a degree too. Although at first she was convinced she wouldn’t be able to do the study or cope with the technology, Amanda found a love for the study and completed in 2014. Amanda has now achieved the dream that she had from the age of 16 and is working in a school and teaching sport.

“I didn’t do very much at school. I got a few GCEs and I was going to be a teacher, but my mother wouldn’t let me go away to study further because then you had to work didn’t you. I used to dream about teaching and I got a place actually but then I couldn’t go. It was just really sad because it was my dream.

I then went on to do all sorts of jobs really, sometimes working 3 jobs and I struggled to get all my children through university. I dedicated my life to my children and I didn’t really look at doing any study myself until my youngest son went off to university. I’d always wanted to do the same and I think it was really that day that I came back home into my empty house that I thought ‘I want to go to university’. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go away though because I had a house to look after and my jobs, but I also didn’t know if I could afford it.

Over the years I’d always had a little look at The Open University, but I never thought that I could do it. I thought it would cost me far too much and that you’d have to have lots of A Levels or qualifications. When I dropped off my youngest son and came home that day I had a look at all kinds of universities. I punched in ‘Open University’ and I looked at all the courses that the OU offers and as I went through them I thought it would definitely be something I could do, so I did!

When I was 16 I wanted to be a food technology teacher but I also wanted to be a PE teacher because I absolutely loved sport. I came from a little town where there wasn’t anything there apart from tennis courts, so virtually all I did was sport. Working in sport as a PE teacher was something that I did actually dream about but I thought it would never happen.

The tutors were amazing and they were there for me the whole way through. You can contact them by email if you have any problems at all and they get back to you so quickly. I had quite a lot of stresses and setbacks throughout my studies including very ill health and a car accident. At one point I didn’t know if I was going to be there to see the end of my studies and it was horrendous really, but the whole way through The Open University tutors and staff were there for me and they would phone me up. They weresuch supportive and caring people.

I didn’t think I could do it from the first day, but within a couple of weeks of actually looking at the books and just working through the weekly planner I found it easier. The weekly planner tells you what you have to read on each week, so I just tried to keep up with that and by the time I got to week 6 I was in the flow of it and I thought ‘I’m going to do this’.

I really quite enjoyed the sports psychology module because now that I work in a school and help with the PE students it helps me to guide them through their study and aids me with giving them confidence. I’m able to show them that they can do it as well.

One of the other good benefits about the course that I did was that I had to become a level 2 fitness instructor and again I’ve always really wanted to do that, but I didn’t think I could do that either. It was great and the fact that I passed that as well was fantastic! It also gave me other job possibilities too as it meant I could now work in a gym and so that also helped to increase my confidence.

I could never use computers and I have to say that was my big fear at the start. When I first started and everything had to be done online, that was the thing that actually frightened me because I was absolutely rubbish at it. But you get a step-by-step guide so I was able to take my time and to go through that. The whole way through there was somebody there helping me and then eventually all those big problems, that I thought were big problems, were no problems because I was flying through.

I found the online tutorials fantastic because if you had to work and missed it then you could pick it up later. I found it so, so helpful because all the time that I was actually doing my TMA I was actually having a look at the tutorial as well. I didn’t only play that back once either! I used to love to tune in too because you got to talk to other students who were in the same boat as you and sometimes you’d be talking to them afterwards too, so you made friends and felt part of a kind of team. Even though you didn’t actually get to meet those people in person they were there every month and so you just became quite close to them.

I didn’t really plan my study time every day because various things would change and happen in life. When I was doing my first course I had about two or three jobs, so I just used to sit down at weekends. I did used to take the books to bed with me at nighttime to read them too. I didn’t find it too much of a problem though because I really enjoyed it. I was also able to start applying what I was learning directly into my work in the school.

The biggest benefit of OU study to me was that it built in around my job and it built in around my home life. I think distance learning suits a lot of people because you don’t have to actually move away, you don’t have to leave your family and friends and you can actually just carry on with normal life and achieve.

I was determined I wanted a BSc (Hons) Sports degree – I wanted that so much and it’s just changed my life. I’m not stopping now; I’m certainly not packing up teaching because I’ve finally got there and I love it. I feel fit, I feel healthy and I get to play sport. I also have a team of kids from the school in the English Squash championships and they’re doing really well. I would say to anyone not to think about it too much, just sign up for it and just do it, because you can! You’re never too old! If you have a dream then go for it.

It’s changed my confidence, it’s changed my life and I feel like a different person. I’ve grown and I never thought I could do that. I honestly did not think I could achieve my dream in life. I’ve not only got a degree now I’ve got the fitness qualification as well and I have to say my computer skills are so much better, which is amazing.

I’ve had lots of jobs which I haven’t really wanted to do, but I’ve done them because I’ve had to get the money and I’m now in a job that I’m doing because I love the job, not because of the money. I’m being paid for a job that I love – it’s amazing. The biggest thing for me is that I’m now actually teaching and following the dream that I’ve carried with me since I was 16.”

If you have been inspired by Amanda’s story and would like to study sport and fitness at the Open University, please visit our ‘Study with us’ page.

Patrick (Ricky) Skene took up ice hockey whilst he was at school and after his GCSEs went to a college that would allow him to continue to play ice hockey on the side. Patrick decided to go to university to study Sports Psychology, but after realising that he wasn’t going to be accredited as a Sports Psychologist through the course he decided to leave and focus on a professional career as an ice hockey player. Whilst enjoying a successful ice hockey career, Patrick started up a strength and conditioning business on the side. Once he had retired from professional ice hockey, Patrick decided to make his business his full focus, but after being told that he should consider teaching by some clients he began to investigate that as a career option. Fast forward to 2017 and Patrick is in his second year of his full time OU degree, working full time as a games teacher in an independent school and working hard to achieve his goal.

“I was born in Chicago where my older brother took up one of the national sports of ice hockey. We stayed there for about 5 years and then moved over to the UK. That’s when I picked up ice hockey and just followed my brother’s footsteps – he was always an inspiration to me. Whilst I was doing my GCSEs I was also being taken out of school to pursue ice hockey as it was a minority sport here and still is. After my GCSEs I immediately went to college at Nescott as that allowed me to continue to play ice hockey. After college I began a degree in sports psychology, however, during one of the first year lectures we discovered that we wouldn’t be accredited as sports psychologists at the end. I didn’t really want to carry on with another two and a half years of student debt, so I stopped that. I had to make a choice at that point whether to pursue my career as an ice hockey player or to keep focus on my educational interests, and I decided to go down the professional ice hockey route.

At the same time that I was playing ice hockey I also completed some vocational courses. I took premier training for a PTI diploma in advanced personal training and surrounding that I also did CrossFit because it was just coming over to the UK. I completed my CrossFit level 1 and 2 instructor’s award and then my CrossFit gymnastics award on the side. I started to realise that I quite liked doing little vocational courses, gaining CPD points and dipping into different things that I liked, but these little courses didn’t carry any qualifications and were just more out of interest.

As I was playing ice hockey at a professional level I had to start to tailor them down a little bit and concentrate on that. My career took me from the Slough Jets to the Guildford Flames and I played 9 years for them. That was really where I made a mark as an ice hockey player; I enjoyed a lot of success, won some trophies and towards the end of my career I started to think about what I was going to do afterwards. I was always quite a fit player, I liked to take my strength and conditioning very seriously and I had been training a lot of my team mates, so I figured why not put the two together. My Premier Training diploma gave me my first CPD points and with my REP level 3 I created my own personal training and strength and conditioning business. When it first started I was taking junior athletes from amateur right the way through and showing them what was required to become professional. I ended up having my professional ice hockey career and a strength and conditioning business on the side until finally I decided to retire from ice hockey to focus on the coaching of not only athletes, but also the general public. I liked it, but realised that if I had a sick day then I didn’t get paid and if I went on holiday then it was costing me money. Some of the people that I was training encouraged me to think about teaching as a career because they said I’d be very good at it.

I looked into the possibility of teaching but found that my diplomas weren’t quite enough to go straight into teaching. I’d heard about The Open University and had seen some advertisement for it so decided to enquire about courses and through that found the BSc Sports, Fitness and Coaching degree. I enrolled with The Open University and started the first year with the strength and conditioning business on the side. I was then pulled out of ice hockey retirement by a coach friend of mine who needed some injury cover, so I came out and played for Telford Tigers for the final time. I enjoyed some more success and retired winning the cup and the league for a final time. It seemed like the perfect time to completely retire and devote everything into this degree and teaching.

I funded the first year myself by paying upfront and then intended to pay for the second year in the same way, but through speaking to the bursar at the current school that I’m at and speaking with the headmaster, they were able to provide me with financial assistance. My study was like inset training because it was enhancing my performance as a games teacher on the job, so they are supporting my funds for the second year. Even though I’m receiving financial support I knew there were options available if I didn’t – I knew I could pay for it in instalments or defer for a while.

I picked the sports, fitness and coaching degree because I do have a background in that industry, so I felt being away from study for so long I wouldn’t be coming in cold and completely out of my element. I chose The Open University over a standard university because it allows me to continue to work and, rather than approaching a school in three years’ time, or even longer if I’d done it part time, I can be on the job now gaining experience whilst studying and applying theory to practice. Also, when I do finish I’m then three years ahead of the curve.

Obviously gaining the theoretical knowledge for the course is fantastic, but being able to manage your time more effectively is huge as a teacher because we do work long hours, we do have high demands on our time and there’s always 101 things going on, so that’s one of the life skills that I think the OU teaches you. It works well for me because we’re given a timetable which I can follow and it’s very manageable. The work is split into small bitesize chunks for each week so you’re not just looking at the book and having to read the entire thing. For me it was just small goals and small manageable steps that I could just apply directly into my job as a teacher.

The tutors at The Open University have been fantastic. I’ve had many different jobs leading up to where I am now as a teacher and with that things change, there’s lots of variables and deadlines sometimes can creep up on you even if you are following a timetable, so being able to email the tutors directly was great. I didn’t have any instances where they questioned it, they said ‘what do you need to be able to produce the work and how can we help’ and that’s exactly what they did in those cases. They would give me a week’s extension, which would be a perfect amount of time to do it, or they would direct me to a resource or an online source of material that would help me get back on track if I was finding something difficult.

Probably the biggest highlight is seeing your hard work pay off! At the beginning of the year my grades weren’t quite as I expected, so to see those grades steadily improve as the year went on wasn’t an instant highlight, but it was the long game. Progressing to a point where I felt more comfortable writing my assignments and having my scores reflecting that made me quite happy because it showed the hard work was being rewarded.

My favourite topic so far is definitely E233 Sport and Fitness Psychology – a case study approach, which I’m studying now. I’ve done so much of the physical side of sport and fitness development but hadn’t really dealt with the psyche and psychological side of it and so I found that really interesting. It’s also helped not just with myself, if I’ve been getting stressed or anxious, but being inside a school and as a teacher it’s been immense because it’s allowed me to apply all of that theory into practice and actually see it work or see if I need to understand it more. I think each of my lessons are getting better and my growth is being shown now from that one module.

One of the perks about choosing the Sports, Fitness and Coaching degree through The Open University is discovering that you got CPD points for it because as a teacher I knew that you had to continually get these CPD points. It helps with your CV, it helps you move up the chain and it helps you to offer different areas of expertise to the students. At Danes Hill we try to offer the kids everything they could possibly think of, so keeping my CPD points going along with the various modules that the course is offering me was great. It was a huge bonus to realise that although I’m away from doing the little vocational or extracurricular courses that I was doing and focusing on three years in one direction, I’m still keeping my CPD points going.

My main reason for choosing The Open University was because of the distance learning type of study. It allowed me to continue to work so that I could fund other interests and hobbies and I’ve been able to go on and buy a house. Being able to study remotely has been fantastic! For me I think actually the online tutorials have helped because I learn better as I’m almost plugged in, so I’m not distracted by other people in the classroom, It’s just me and a computer screen in an area. When I’m at home I’ve got a desk area, so everything there is what I need to study, if I’m at school then we’ve got work rooms and if I’m on the go completely remotely I’ve got my iPad, so there’s no way that I’m stopped from learning. I think you get all the benefits without the distraction.

I use the study planner pretty rigorously; I make sure that I stick to it and I don’t try to read too far ahead just in case I’m reading stuff that I might not need or isn’t 100% necessary for that next assignment, because time management is the biggest thing with The Open University. I commute an hour to an hour and a half each day using the train so I do a lot of my study planner reading for each study. I try and do one module’s reading in the first half of the week and then the second module that I’m studying in the second half of the week. I stick to the study planner and use that commute on the train, so it’s manageable and it lets me get quite a lot done each day.

The advice I’d give potential students is that even if you’re maybe daunted a bit at the beginning about the required study time, don’t be put off by the fact that you should be studying 32 hours a week because if you want it bad enough you can find time here and there. Using a commute or having books around your house, so even while you’re cooking or maybe waiting for something in the microwave you can be flicking through a page. It’s just a case of finding that time, identifying it and then sticking to it.

I needed to have a degree and The Open University provided the best possible situation for me to do that whilst working in the school. Once I’ve done my PGCE I think I’ll be pretty much addicted to learning and I’ll be constantly looking for other areas to progress in.

In this job I’m working with kids that always bring a smile to my face, I’m doing sport and games which I love and it’s a good life. Without the OU and without the degree, that wouldn’t be a possibility for me at this time.”

If you have been inspired by Ricky’s story and would like to study sport and fitness at the Open University, please visit our ‘Study with us’ page.

Etienne Stott is a slalom canoeist who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, winning a gold medal in the men’s canoe double (C2) with his crewmate Tim Baillie. First-hand experience of the power of psychology in sport led Etienne to embark on a degree with the OU. Although as yet unsure of the branch of psychology he wishes to specialise in, Etienne really hopes that in the future he’ll be able to use its power to help others succeed and thrive in their life choices.

“I left school with science-based A levels and took up a place at the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2000 with a degree in mechanical engineering (BEng). Nottingham is also a training centre for canoeists and I went on to a career as a slalom canoeist, competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and winning gold in the men’s canoe double (C2).

My interest in psychology came about initially from experiencing its power in sport first-hand and I decided I’d like to become a psychologist. I opted to study for a degree with the OU as it offered me the flexibility I needed; I could manage my studies according to the demands of my lifestyle. Although I paid most of my module fees myself, I also secured some UK Sport funding through the English Institute of Sport’s Performance Lifestyle Service, which helps athletes to fund their education beyond their sports careers.

The route to an OU psychology degree is largely prescribed, although there is some choice of modules, so registering was unproblematic.

My tutors were very good: supportive, easy to contact, kind, knowledgeable, generous and understanding. OU tutors are very aware of your other commitments and do their best to be accommodating; for example, should a TMA extension be necessary. I found the learning materials really good: well written and presented, with interesting content. The OU is well organised for distance learning provision and all study components, including the online materials, are carefully integrated, providing a positive learning experience for students. I particularly liked the online study planner as it meant you always knew which stage of the module you were meant to be at.

The face-to-face tutorials that accompanied some modules were quite interesting and helped reinforce and consolidate what I’d learned. There was also a residential school and it was good to meet up with students from such a wide range of backgrounds.

Being an OU student isn’t easy, but I’d definitely recommend it to anyone considering registering; you learn a lot and the sense of achievement you experience is really rewarding. For me, the main challenge is finding the time to fit everything in. I try to anticipate how busy I’m going to be with training and competitions and then plan ahead as far as I can, setting up my life efficiently so that I’m using my energy productively. Prioritising is key. If you’re prepared to make sacrifices for a while and are clear about your motivation, you’ll find it more interesting so will be more likely to succeed. Be enthusiastic about your subject, too. When I think back to my first degree, I realise just how much of a mechanical process it was. I went from school to university almost without thinking, unlike now. I’m really enjoying studying and when I get good marks for my TMAs I know my hard work is paying off.

I’m just about to start my next module, E219 Psychology of childhood and youth, and have three years to go before completing my degree. I then plan to gain experience of work in the field of psychology and perhaps do a masters and/or a doctorate. I’m not yet sure of the branch of psychology I’d like to specialise in, but no doubt this will become clearer the further I progress. In my future work, I do want to be able to use the power of psychology to help people succeed and thrive in their life choices, though.”

If you have been inspired by Etienne’s story and want to study sport and fitness at The Open University please visit the ‘Study with us’ section of this website