{"id":1402,"date":"2017-04-10T15:42:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T15:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=1402"},"modified":"2017-03-10T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T15:58:28","slug":"student-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=1402","title":{"rendered":"Student Story: Etienne Stott"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CAS000462_highres_2\"<\/a>Etienne Stott is a slalom canoeist who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, winning a gold medal in the men\u2019s 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\u2019ll be able to use its power to help others succeed and thrive in their life choices.<\/p>\n

“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\u2019s canoe double (C2).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Etienne<\/a>My interest in psychology came about initially from experiencing its power in sport first-hand and I decided I\u2019d 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\u2019s Performance Lifestyle Service, which helps athletes to fund their education beyond their sports careers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CAS000462_highres_1\"<\/a>The route to an OU psychology degree is largely prescribed, although there is some choice of modules, so registering was unproblematic.<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

The face-to-face tutorials that accompanied some modules were quite interesting and helped reinforce and consolidate what I\u2019d learned. There was also a residential school and it was good to meet up with students from such a wide range of backgrounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Etienne<\/a>Being an OU student isn\u2019t easy, but I\u2019d 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\u2019m going to be with training and competitions and then plan ahead as far as I can, setting up my life efficiently so that I\u2019m using my energy productively. Prioritising is key. If you\u2019re prepared to make sacrifices for a while and are clear about your motivation, you\u2019ll 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\u2019m really enjoying studying and when I get good marks for my TMAs I know my hard work is paying off.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CAS000462_highres_0\"<\/a>I\u2019m 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\u2019m not yet sure of the branch of psychology I\u2019d 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.”<\/em><\/p>\n

If you have been inspired by Etienne\u2019s story and want to study sport and fitness at The Open University please visit the \u2018Study with us\u2019 section of this website<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Etienne Stott is a slalom canoeist who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, winning a gold medal in the men\u2019s 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 […]<\/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-1402","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\/1402","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=1402"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1411,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions\/1411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}