International Studies student Halima Younis, 26, has been studying with The Open University since completing her A Levels. After making the big decision to choose distance learning \u2013 and to prove her doubters wrong \u2013 she\u2019s never looked back.<\/p>\n
She now wants to show that there\u2019s not only one route to success and that you don\u2019t have to put your life on hold to pursue higher education.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter school, I didn\u2019t want to stop working,\u201d says Halima, who runs a business providing care services to the community. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to move away or be in financial debt. It was a huge pressure on my shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a friend suggested she could study flexibly through The Open University, Halima found the solution she was looking for. The only problem was convincing her mum it was the right choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t that much she knew about the OU, so she was against it. She hadn\u2019t looked into it and wasn\u2019t something that was considered \u2018normal\u2019. I was 17 at the time, so it was unheard of.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like loads of people from Asian families would be in a similar situation. Our parents have this expectation that we have to do amazingly well. I don\u2019t know why, but it\u2019s so common. I feel like there\u2019s so much pressure to be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Halima\u2019s dad was more supportive from the start and gave her the encouragement to enrol for an International Studies degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment I told him about the OU he was like, \u2018go for it\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cMy dad’s very business orientated, and I believe I take that after him and my mum’s very educationally motivated. So I feel like I’m the perfect child for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
After seeing Halima\u2019s hard work pay off as she passes each module, her mum has now come around \u2013 and couldn\u2019t be prouder:<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s really happy that I\u2019m happy and I\u2019m content. I\u2019ve not had to sacrifice anything for my education. She liked the fact that I was able to work and there\u2019s no financial burden on her. I\u2019ve not had to sacrifice a course just to keep my career, I was able to do everything that I\u2019ve wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been able to mould my studies around my real life which I feel has helped me and it’s made me a lot more confident than perhaps what I would have been if I went to a brick university.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Support every step of the way<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Halima says that having the support of her family cheering her on has been essential. She often completes assignments in the living room surrounded by her family and ever-watchful Coco the cat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving my family and my pets around me makes me realise how far I\u2019ve come. They are just like my happy place and I don\u2019t think I would have made it this far had it not been for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they\u2019re sitting around me, it motivates me a lot because they\u2019ve helped me get to where I am. I know my mum was so against the OU, but now that she\u2019s seen how it makes me feel, she\u2019d never want me to quit studying and that\u2019s the same with my dad too. But they know not to make excessive noise around me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Halima also knows she can reach out to her OU tutors and fellow students whenever she needs extra support:<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the OU, you\u2019re not alone. It might seem like you\u2019re sitting at your desk at home, but there\u2019s a whole lot of people that are in the same situation that you could easily meet up with.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask a question online, you\u2019ll have a whole load of classmates that will be able to help you. Or what I would do if I was struggling with my TMA (tutor marked assignment) is I would email my tutor who would arrange to call me and guide me and help me.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of sixth form, I thought \u2018oh, the teachers are going to shout at me’, or there\u2019ll be consequences, but there really isn\u2019t. As long as you talk very openly with your tutors, they accommodate your needs very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Achieving her ambitions in study and business <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Looking ahead, Halima wants to keep growing her business and continue boosting her skills:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe OU has showed me education never stops. I have plans of doing a PhD, I\u2019d like to do a master\u2019s, but there\u2019s no set time, there\u2019s no end to my studying. I would like to see myself going further in the field of International Studies because I really do enjoy it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there are all these doors open and I just need to choose one to walk through.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now that Halima has proven distance learning is the right choice for her \u2013 she hopes her story can help raise awareness that it\u2019s a viable option at any age:<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to understand that education, especially for people that come from different backgrounds, can be obtained in various ways. You don\u2019t have to sacrifice certain things in your life to get it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been able to travel. I got married. Like major life events haven\u2019t been hindered because of my education, which I feel they would have if I had gone to a brick university. I would have just been solely focused on education and not learning wider life skills, which I feel I\u2019ve grasped a lot earlier than other people my age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that there are so many people that have the same struggles that perhaps I went through and they still struggle, and it’s nice that to show them that they’re not alone and that as long as they want to achieve something, they could really get there. And studying is one way of achieving their dreams and it’s really nice being a part of that.”<\/p>\n
Introducing a new photo series of OU students<\/strong><\/h4>\n