{"id":12748,"date":"2019-05-04T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T07:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=12748"},"modified":"2019-05-04T08:00:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T07:00:28","slug":"from-the-west-end-to-the-ou-how-study-set-karena-on-a-new-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/psychology\/from-the-west-end-to-the-ou-how-study-set-karena-on-a-new-path\/","title":{"rendered":"From the West End to the OU \u2013 how study set Karena on a new path"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As an Open University student turned\nAssociate Lecturer, Karena Serdecka-Rhodes-Bell understands first-hand how\neducation can help to open new doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karena previously worked as a professional actress, singer and musician, performing in the West End and on TV, film and radio, before her OU psychology degree<\/a> inspired her to become an OU Associate Lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember how life-changing my first course with the Open University was. DD100 set me off on a new path of academic, psychological, personal and professional growth which I could not have imagined when I enrolled.\u201d  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sparking\na new passion <\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While studying, Karena became\nintrigued by classic and contemporary theory and research in psychology. \u201cI was\ninspired from that point onwards,\u201d Karena said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of The Open University\u2019s Associate Lecturers, or Tutors, Karena now helps to support students from all around the world, running online and face-to-face tutorials and giving academic feedback from her home near Yarm in North East England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing an Associate Lecturer offers flexibility. I can walk my dog Bear at the beach, mark essays at the park, have coffee with friends and then choose where my next office location is, park, caf\u00e9, library or home. With the technology we have today, I can always be on hand for my students, providing them with the support they need to get through their studies.\u201d  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A\nlife-changing experience\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having such flexibility allows Karena\nto fit in her work around her private practice as a therapist, as well as\nallowing her to raise her family and pursue her numerous other passions,\nincluding continuing to work as a gigging musician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love the ethos and the fact that teaching and learning through the OU definitely does open doors and can be a life-changing experience. My colleagues are approachable, supportive and interesting, my students are diverse, engaging and great to work with \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of job satisfaction that comes from working as an Associate Lecturer.\u201d  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Celebrating 50 years of changing\nlives <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Karena features as part of a new photography collection taken by renowned British photographer Chris Floyd<\/a>, to mark the OU\u2019s 50th Anniversary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelling around the UK to capture the remarkable stories of the OU today, Floyd\u2019s 10 portraits have been released alongside a never seen before collection of images from the OU\u2019s archive. See the rest of the inspirational students and alumni featured in our collection at 50.open.ac.uk\/photography<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest Author: Carly Sumner <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Photograph<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Carly Sumner is a Digital Content Officer in the Development\nOffice at The Open University. She loves telling stories and has spent the past\n10 years writing about everything from nappy bags to balance transfers. She\nholds a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Media Studies from Coventry University.\nWhen she\u2019s not writing, Carly enjoys reading, sharing good food with great\npeople, and all things colourful. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an Open University student turned Associate Lecturer, Karena Serdecka-Rhodes-Bell understands first-hand how education can help to open new doors. Karena previously worked as a professional actress, singer and musician, performing in the West End and on TV, film and radio, before her OU psychology degree inspired her to become an OU Associate Lecturer. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,18],"tags":[42,375,869,1525,1633,1859,2210],"class_list":["post-12748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-student-stories","tag-50th-photo","tag-carly-sumner","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-staff","tag-pyschology","tag-ou50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12748","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=12748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}