{"id":1356,"date":"2016-12-19T17:04:37","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T17:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2016-12-19T17:04:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-19T17:04:59","slug":"student-story-john-curd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=1356","title":{"rendered":"Student Story: John Curd"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I began studying with the Open University, I was at a low ebb. I had recently retired due to ill health and had suffered several devastating bereavements in a short space of time.\u00a0 Previously I had enjoyed a long and varied career, which included decades of psychiatric nursing in the NHS and a stint in the Royal Army Medical Corp (RAMC). However, I was in a bit of a rut and felt as though I needed to undertake a new challenge.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/TDR_VIS_270915CURD_01.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1358\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/TDR_VIS_270915CURD_01-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"TDR_VIS_270915CURD_01\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/TDR_VIS_270915CURD_01-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/TDR_VIS_270915CURD_01.jpg 615w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Having run 115 full marathons and 103 half marathons for charity over a period of several decades, I have something of a passion for sport and athletics. Therefore, I decided to pursue an OU course that involved these two fields. In 2008, I commenced the module E112, titled &#8216;Introduction to sport, fitness and management&#8217;. Since then, I have successfully completed a total of five modules with a view to attaining a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport, Fitness and Coaching. I have just begun my sixth and final module. Studying with the OU has given me a greater sense of purpose, as well as having broadened my mind.<\/p>\n<p>From the day I started studying with the OU until now, I have always enjoyed the very best of support from the OU. During my studies, I have suffered more bereavements and more bouts of ill health and there have been times when this adversity has caused me to consider effecting a cessation of my studies. However, thanks to the help and advice that I have received from Student Support, the North-West branch of the OU, my various course tutors and the Milton Keynes faculty staff I have always been able to overcome such adversity and progress with my studies. The university staff have been incredibly supportive to me.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1.png\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1361\" src=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1-300x168.png\" alt=\"John Curd 1\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1-624x351.png 624w, https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/John-Curd-1.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Thanks to my studies with the OU, I am now a qualified kettlebell instructor, a Level 2 Registered Exercise Practitioner and the proud holder of a Foundation Degree. My OU journey has not always been easy, but it has been worthwhile in every regard. I look forward to the rest of the academic year and the challenges and accomplishments that it will bring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I began studying with the Open University, I was at a low ebb. I had recently retired due to ill health and had suffered several devastating bereavements in a short space of time.\u00a0 Previously I had enjoyed a long and varied career, which included decades of psychiatric nursing in the NHS and a stint [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1363,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}