{"id":19073,"date":"2021-09-14T08:02:33","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T07:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=19073"},"modified":"2021-09-14T08:02:33","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T07:02:33","slug":"from-one-ou-student-to-another-you-can-do-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/from-one-ou-student-to-another-you-can-do-this\/","title":{"rendered":"From one OU student to another: \u2018You can do this!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Balancing a degree with family and work commitments isn\u2019t easy. Yet the rewards are so worth it. Just ask mum of two and Open University Natural Sciences<\/a> graduate Gina.<\/p>\n

After experiencing ups and downs during her degree journey, she\u2019s now a proud graduate and is here to cheer on current OU students with some words of wisdom:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advice to any OU student is \u2018You can do this!\u2019 OU study is going to be the hardest thing you\u2019ve ever had to commit to for yourself, but it\u2019s completely worth it. You\u2019ll feel so proud of yourself at the end of your journey when you realise how much you\u2019ve grown.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Forget what you previously thought about your ability to learn, because you\u2019ll discover more about what you\u2019re capable of then you ever dreamed possible. The only thing stopping you is yourself. If you fail to prepare then you\u2019re preparing to fail, so plan, commit and accomplish. You will have days where you want to give up, but these days will pass. Keep reminding yourself why you\u2019re doing this. If you can get through this degree, you can get through anything!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit that the prospect of distance learning made me anxious initially. I wasn\u2019t sure that I\u2019d be able to give enough time to my studies and believed I might struggle to obtain the grades I needed. In my first year, I followed my timetable consistently and gave it my all. I found having children and trying to study a real challenge and learnt valuable lessons for my subsequent study years.<\/p>\n

All the sacrifice is worth it<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My family inspired me to carry on and just give it my all. I put everything into my exam, revised and sacrificed a lot of family time, which was difficult as I felt I was missing out. I struggled to stay motivated when everyone around me was having fun.<\/p>\n

Studying with the OU definitely involves sacrifice, but it will be worth it in the end when you achieve your goals. I\u2019ll never forget the day my results came. I opened my results letter and couldn\u2019t believe what I was reading. From that moment on, I never stopped believing in my ability to achieve what I desired, as long as I could commit to the hard work required. At that point, I think I began to inspire myself. I didn\u2019t believe I was capable and I had proved myself wrong.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Juggling small children and studying was a big challenge for me, as I could only study early in the morning, nap times and evenings, which was restrictive, and I\u2019d often be interrupted. Things got easier the older my children got as I would study in the day while they were at school or preschool and then work in the late afternoon. But the pandemic was a challenging time. I was just starting my dissertation when Covid-19 hit and the lockdown restrictions completely ruined my project plans. I had to re-plan my entire project while trying to home school an eight and five year old. This was extremely tough but, with the support of my tutor and husband, I got through it in the end.<\/p>\n

Study advice for OU students<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The greatest tip I can give is to start studying as soon as the materials are made available. This enables you to get ahead and means you can avoid falling behind when inevitable family issues arise. I\u2019m still not convinced people understand how challenging it is to study off your own back, with no one monitoring your every move. I have the utmost respect for anyone that has completed a degree with the OU, while juggling other life challenges. It\u2019s a real achievement.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the OU, I\u2019ve gained a first class BSc (Hons) in Natural Sciences which has enabled me to get a postgraduate opportunity studying for my PGCE at Leicester University. People are always very impressed to hear I studied with the OU.<\/p>\n

The OU has given me a confidence in myself that I never thought I would have. I believe in myself completely now and know I can achieve anything I want.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My mum once told me education is wasted on youth and I finally know what she means. Just because you struggled to learn or didn\u2019t feel you were the brightest at school, it doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t achieve a higher level of education as an adult. People shouldn\u2019t be afraid to give education another go later in life \u2013 I can guarantee they\u2019ll surprise themselves with what they\u2019re capable of.<\/p>\n

My goal now is to complete my PGCE and go on to inspire young minds. The sky\u2019s the limit \u2026 I\u2019m an OU alumna!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Balancing a degree with family and work commitments isn\u2019t easy. Yet the rewards are so worth it. Just ask mum of two and Open University Natural Sciences graduate Gina. After experiencing ups and downs during her degree journey, she\u2019s now a proud graduate and is here to cheer on current OU students with some words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1525,1640,1643],"class_list":["post-19073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19073","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=19073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}