{"id":20626,"date":"2022-03-14T09:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T09:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=20626"},"modified":"2022-03-14T09:13:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T09:13:00","slug":"my-first-ou-module-inspired-a-video-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/my-first-ou-module-inspired-a-video-game\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My first OU module inspired a video game\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Faye isn\u2019t studying for her English Language<\/a> degree with The Open University, she\u2019s creating video games that celebrate her love of words.<\/p>\n

Faye shares how her first OU module material gave her the creative spark and confidence to take the plunge into the world of gaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely a gamer girl,\u201d said Faye, who is in the second year of her degree. \u201cI especially love games with a strong narrative and well-developed characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose to study English Language with the OU because I want to gain a technical knowledge of language and also boost my creative writing skills,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope my degree will support my dream of having a career in the games industry as a writer and designer.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sparking a new career<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The inspiration for a new creative venture struck early on in Faye\u2019s OU journey:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first module of my degree focused on dialects, idiolects and communicative repertoires that form such an important part of people\u2019s identities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpending the year considering the importance of language to a person\u2019s identity made me really conscious of how amazing a person\u2019s idiolect is. There are so many influences on the way a person speaks, it really is as unique as a fingerprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I got the idea to create a video game that celebrated these different types of linguistic diversity. I wrote and then self-published \u2018Dear Agony Aunt\u2019, a storytelling game where you interact with a variety of different characters through written communication. The aim is to pay attention to their words to help solve their problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a love letter to the English language,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Finding a renewed self-belief<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For Faye, one of the biggest benefits of studying with the OU is the flexibility. It means she can fit her studies around her career and other passions, including her goal of learning Japanese.<\/p>\n

\u201cI studied Linguistics and Japanese at a brick university for a year, but I have an anxiety disorder which made attending campus difficult,\u201d she said. \u201cThe way courses are delivered at the OU is much more accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to get the absolute most out of my OU experience,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s challenging to balance everything but I\u2019m genuinely enjoying all of my commitments, which definitely helps me to stay motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

After doubting her abilities, Faye now feels she\u2019s in exactly the right place to achieve her goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not in my comfort zone \u2013 university studies are hard work \u2013 but I\u2019m not in a situation where I\u2019m constantly panicking. It\u2019s amazing to find out what I\u2019m capable of in the right circumstances. I\u2019m so grateful the OU has given me this opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really appreciate the effort the OU puts in to not only make the materials informative but also engaging. The work being broken up into weekly units suits me perfectly! It keeps me on track without the pressure to get something done on a specific day.\u201d<\/p>\n

An exciting future as a video game developer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Faye\u2019s studies include a creative writing module, which has enabled her to boost her storytelling skills even further. Not only is she progressing academically but studying is also helping Faye to realise she\u2019s capable of even more than she thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have more belief in myself since becoming an OU student. I have been putting in the work and it\u2019s so rewarding to see that recognised and turning into results,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI want to prove to myself that I can complete this degree with high marks in every module. I\u2019ve felt like an underachiever for too long so now I\u2019m taking action to show myself what I\u2019m capable of. Sometimes forging your own path is the only way to get where you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Faye isn\u2019t studying for her English Language degree with The Open University, she\u2019s creating video games that celebrate her love of words. Faye shares how her first OU module material gave her the creative spark and confidence to take the plunge into the world of gaming. \u201cI\u2019m definitely a gamer girl,\u201d said Faye, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1525,1640,1643,2146],"class_list":["post-20626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","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\/20626","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=20626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}