{"id":13810,"date":"2019-09-20T14:46:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T13:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=13810"},"modified":"2019-09-20T14:46:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T13:46:27","slug":"emmas-story-giving-up-was-simply-not-an-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/emmas-story-giving-up-was-simply-not-an-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma’s story: “Giving up was simply not an option\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emma Roache could have led a very different life to the one\nshe leads now, thankfully she\u2019s not one to let an unfortunate set of\ncircumstances hold her back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a difficult childhood, she found herself homeless at just sixteen and living in a residential B&B surrounded by crime and drugs. Under such bleak conditions, it would have been very easy for her to abandon her ambitions and follow the same path, however \u201cGiving up was simply not an option\u201d<\/em> says Emma, who graduated in 2017 with a BSc Hons in Combined Social Sciences and Criminology<\/a> from The Open University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remarkably she steered her own course. Looking back, she said \u201cdespite my situation, I was determined to carry on with my education and managed to pass three out of four A-levels\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having\nalways had an interest in the environment, the plan was to go on to university\nand study environmental science. But due to her family situation she was unable\nto provide proof of having no financial support, so could not secure a grant at\nthe time, to fund her studies. This was a huge blow, but rather than dwell on it,\nEmma changed her plans and went out to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Righting a Wrong <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI worked for ten years in the corporate industry \u2013 gaining professional qualifications and valuable experience, but all that time I had this niggle in the back of my head that I had been stopped by someone else from continuing my education as I\u2019d planned.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, finding herself in a better position to apply for funding, Emma took the plunge and registered for her OU degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt like a huge decision, after all, I was in my early 30s and I couldn\u2019t remember the last time I wrote an essay, however as scary as it was, I knew it was right.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The flexibility of the OU enabled Emma to continue working and earning money while studying but it wasn\u2019t without its challenges. \u201c<\/em>It was a very busy period in my life and there were times when I struggled to keep going – especially when I was feeling behind with the reading or got a lower than hoped for result in an assignment\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also faced two significant bereavements which could have derailed her plans, but her determination to achieve pushed her through the tough times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just kept reminding myself that I was capable, and I deserved to get through it after being stopped by someone else years before.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Making a difference\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by her OU studies and recognising the value of her own life experiences, Emma realised that she had a passion in life for helping people, so she set up her private coaching practice and founded a social enterprise. After launching in 2014, her now successful business helps individuals unlock their full potential and navigate through life\u2019s challenges, just like she did for herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel so lucky to be doing something I love and I am passionate about supporting other people to transform their lives both on a personal and professional level. The skills I have learned via the OU have been invaluable in the running of my social enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma graduated at Ely Cathedral in 2017. She urges anyone thinking of studying with the OU to give it a go, adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a big milestone, I had now done the thing that someone else had decided I couldn\u2019t, I had my degree and I did it all by myself. If I can do it, you can too!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emma Roache could have led a very different life to the one she leads now, thankfully she\u2019s not one to let an unfortunate set of circumstances hold her back. After a difficult childhood, she found herself homeless at just sixteen and living in a residential B&B surrounded by crime and drugs. Under such bleak conditions, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,18],"tags":[388,531,869,1525,2210],"class_list":["post-13810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-social-sciences","category-student-stories","tag-case-study","tag-criminology","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13810","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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}