{"id":12257,"date":"2019-03-29T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T08:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=12257"},"modified":"2019-03-29T08:00:14","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T08:00:14","slug":"following-in-her-mothers-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/education-languages-health\/health\/following-in-her-mothers-footsteps\/","title":{"rendered":"Following in her mother\u2019s footsteps"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a child Demelza Dachtler grew up watching her mother, Julie, study for a Masters with The Open University. Today, she\u2019s an OU graduate herself, is on the verge of completing her own OU Masters, and is about to become a mother for the first time.\u00a0We spoke to Demelza last year<\/a>, and now, in the run up to Mother\u2019s Day, we caught up with both her and her mother.<\/p>\n

Julie’s story<\/h2>\n

\u201cI had a degree from a traditional university, and was teaching, when I decided to do a Masters in Education with The Open University. My children were very young at the time, and hadn\u2019t yet started school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OU allowed me to fit my studies around caring for the children. I could work on the computer, save my work, then do dinner, and come back to the work later. The computer was in the bedroom area too, so I could keep an eye on them while I was studying too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAt the time, the study materials were all books, but Demelza has most of hers on her tablet now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demelza’s story<\/h2>\n

Demelza completed a Diploma of Higher Education in Adult Nursing and just two months later, at the age of 21, she joined Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a family of graduates. I was justifiably proud of my nursing diploma; however, I had a gnawing feeling that I was one step behind my family. A colleague at Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron had completed the OU Nursing Practice degree<\/a> and was impressed with the level of support she had received from her tutors while studying.”<\/p>\n

“Support, along with flexibility to study while on the move, were absolute necessities for me and led me to the same degree. I was able to complete my reading at 35,000ft, and submit my assignments online, wherever I was in the world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since completing her degree Demelza has been posted into a teaching position; teaching clinical practice skills to Royal Navy, Royal Marine, Army and Royal Air Force trainee medics.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowards the end of my degree project, my tutor encouraged me to continue my studies. It was her belief that I was capable of postgraduate study that led me to carry on.\u201d Demelza\u2019s hoping to complete the MSc Advancing Healthcare<\/a> Practice<\/a> in summer 2019.<\/p>\n

Graduation time<\/h2>\n
\"Demelza

Demelza’s graduation<\/p><\/div>\n

Julie completed her MA in Education<\/a> in 1993 but wasn\u2019t able to attend her graduation ceremony as it was too far to travel with two small children. She remembers attending Demelza\u2019s graduation; \u201cIt was at a football ground; an impressive venue. I was so proud to watch her graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demelza said \u201cMy biggest Open University related high was shaking my Dad’s hand at my degree ceremony in Milton Keynes, as a fellow graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Julie didn\u2019t attend a ceremony in 1993, The Open University gives graduates the flexibility to attend ceremonies in subsequent years; she’s hoping to attend a ceremony later this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Demelza said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am now pregnant and due to give birth in April, so it\u2019s a race against time to finish as much of my MSc as I can before my son gets here! I\u2019m still hoping that I can complete the course this year, so that my mother and I can both graduate together.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

As a child Demelza Dachtler grew up watching her mother, Julie, study for a Masters with The Open University. Today, she\u2019s an OU graduate herself, is on the verge of completing her own OU Masters, and is about to become a mother for the first time.\u00a0We spoke to Demelza last year, and now, in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,7,18],"tags":[761,862,1441,1474,1525,1555,1559,2210,2403],"class_list":["post-12257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-health","category-student-stories","tag-education","tag-faculty-of-wels","tag-military","tag-mothers-day","tag-news-home","tag-nursing","tag-nursing360","tag-ou50","tag-wels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}