Find your goal and inspiration in OU study, like Stuart

Posted on 1 July 2026 • Career planning, Disabled Veterans, Teaching and education

OU student and disabled veteran Stuart describes his OU journey as one of ‘resilience, struggle and growth’. After being medically discharged from the military following 23 years of service, he felt lost and unsure what to do next. Studying towards a BA (Honours) History degree gave him focus and motivation to move forwards in a new direction: “I had a purpose to carry on.”

Find out how to develop your career resilience and make a career change to confidently navigate unforeseen circumstances like Stuart.

Choosing a subject to study

When deciding to study History, Stuart considered what subject he would most enjoy studying, as well as his career goals:

“When I was doing my degree, I wanted to pick a subject that I knew I could focus on. It would interest me and give me a goal at the end that I would achieve my degree”

“a big goal of mine was to become a teacher”

Explore careers that match your interests and have a go at the activities in Your Career Planning Guide to reveal what really motivates you.

Motivation through achievement

Stuart explains how achieving milestone qualifications along the way to his final degree really helped to motivate him to keep going and gave him that sense of achievement that he had missed out on at school:

“The most rewarding parts are achieving my Certificate of Education. And I’ve just recently got my Diploma of Education as well”

Discover career options with your qualification and motivate yourself to work towards an exciting future too.

Building resilience

Being medically discharged from the military was a huge change for Stuart:

“When you get injured in the military, you’re almost left behind”

Find out how to successfully deal with career challenges like Stuart and get support if you’re facing redundancy.

You can also find help to transition from a military to a civilian career.

Get inspired and define your goals

Watch Stuart’s video to discover more about his journey:

Your goals beyond study are a critical part of how we define student success at the OU. Take stock of your goals and work out your next steps by completing the 3-minute careers check-in. This instantly generates your personalised ‘Actions towards goals’ checklist, which signposts you to tools and resources tailored to your needs.