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\u2019t really look at doing any study myself until my youngest son went off to university. I\u2019d 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 \u2018I want to go to university\u2019. I knew I wouldn\u2019t be able to go away though because I had a house to look after and my jobs, but I also didn\u2019t know if I could afford it. <\/em><\/p>\n Over the years I\u2019d 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\u2019d 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 \u2018Open University\u2019 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!<\/em><\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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. <\/em><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t 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 \u2018I\u2019m going to do this\u2019. <\/em><\/p>\n 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\u2019m able to show them that they can do it as well. <\/em><\/p>\n 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\u2019ve always really wanted to do that, but I didn\u2019t 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. <\/em><\/p>\n 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. <\/em><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t 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\u2019t 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. <\/em><\/p>\n 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\u2019t have to actually move away, you don\u2019t have to leave your family and friends and you can actually just carry on with normal life and achieve. <\/em><\/p>\n I was determined I wanted a BSc (Hons) Sports degree – I wanted that so much and it\u2019s just changed my life. I\u2019m not stopping now; I\u2019m certainly not packing up teaching because I\u2019ve 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\u2019re 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\u2019re never too old! If you have a dream then go for it. <\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Amanda1.png\")
<\/a>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\u2019t 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.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>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\u2019t 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\u2019d be talking to them afterwards too, so you made friends and felt part of a kind of team. Even though you didn\u2019t actually get to meet those people in person they were there every month and so you just became quite close to them. <\/em><\/p>\n