{"id":18906,"date":"2021-08-11T11:05:19","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T10:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=18906"},"modified":"2021-08-11T11:05:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T10:05:19","slug":"my-degree-gave-me-hope-when-i-was-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/my-degree-gave-me-hope-when-i-was-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My degree gave me hope when I was homeless\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the start of her Open University (OU) journey, Lea was homeless and suffering with her mental health. She\u2019s now completed a Social Sciences<\/a> undergraduate degree and a Master\u2019s in Psychology with the OU, is living independently and has started a business to help others in the community to feel less alone.<\/p>\n

Lea shares how she transformed her life with the support of the OU family:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year I started my degree I was made homeless. Studying was what kept me on track as I didn\u2019t have anything else, I didn\u2019t have a home and my wellbeing wasn\u2019t great, so doing my degree was what kept me focused. I\u2019ve always known I like working with people and helping people, so studying Social Sciences made sense. A lot of my reason for studying was to give me hope.<\/p>\n

My childhood wasn\u2019t great, there was a lot of abuse and turmoil. I then suffered eating disorders and didn\u2019t complete my A Levels properly. I couldn\u2019t go to a brick university because of that and because I couldn\u2019t really leave the house as my agoraphobia was so bad. As I kept seeing the OU being advertised, I signed up and started studying when I was made homeless.<\/p>\n

The support to study while homeless<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As I didn\u2019t have access to any resources at home, I was going to a local library to study. At first, I was quite reluctant to talk about my situation, but I got to the point where I thought, \u2018if I don\u2019t say something, I\u2019m going to fail\u2019. Luckily, every single person I\u2019ve spoken to has helped me along this journey.<\/p>\n

My tutors were incredible, always checking in and ensuring I had the resources I needed. Back then, the OU sent out course materials with DVDs and I didn\u2019t have a DVD player, so my tutor was really helpful in finding ways for me to access the materials. Another tutor suggested I apply for disability support, as my mental health made it hard for me to retain information. The OU gave me a laptop, software and a Dictaphone so I could record my tutorials.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Breaking down barriers to success<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The biggest challenge was doing an exam. I don\u2019t retain information very well and I failed it and had to re-take it, which was really daunting. But I don\u2019t think anything is as scary as you think it is. I\u2019ve always had a fantastic support network with the OU. I can\u2019t really say anything was too overwhelming; it feels like it at the time because it means so much, but there was always someone to talk to even when I felt so alone.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed it so much that I\u2019ve just done my Master\u2019s degree in Psychology! I never thought I\u2019d be someone who could do a Master\u2019s or a degree or anything. It shocked me that I was able to.<\/p>\n

The OU literally changed the way my life is. There were other people who played their part, my support workers for example, but the OU community of tutors and the support team really helped me. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to see my own potential without the backing of the OU. Now I\u2019m in a place where I feel pretty okay.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018I want to show people they\u2019re not alone\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve been in independent housing for six years now. I am working with a charity doing sexual health and wellbeing education and have also started my own business last year. I go out in the community and support the wellbeing of young people, especially around mental health and making sure people don\u2019t feel alone.<\/p>\n

We started last year and we\u2019re doing a period poverty scheme, where we send out care packages with essential items for the community in need. I\u2019m trying to show that people aren\u2019t alone as I know what that feels like.<\/p>\n

If someone is thinking of studying with the OU, I would say \u2018go for it\u2019! What\u2019s the worst that can happen? You might do a qualification you don\u2019t like, but you might find a course that will change your life forever and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. Give it a try because you might be pleasantly surprised about what you can do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

At the start of her Open University (OU) journey, Lea was homeless and suffering with her mental health. She\u2019s now completed a Social Sciences undergraduate degree and a Master\u2019s in Psychology with the OU, is living independently and has started a business to help others in the community to feel less alone. Lea shares how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[869,1525,1640,1643,2146],"class_list":["post-18906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}