\u201cI look at where I am in my life at 22 and I\u2019ve got a stable career and what I believe is a really bright career path,\u201d she said. \u201cNone of that would have been possible without the OU.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot rave to enough people about how amazing the OU is in terms of the support I was given by my tutors and just the all-round quality of the education.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Discovering a flexible way to learn<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Talia says that it was a recommendation from her father, followed by watching an inspiring BBC documentary series that first inspired her to explore the OU at 18 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to think that the OU chose me,\u201d she said. \u201cFirst my dad said he had heard from a client about a place called the OU that offered online courses. Then one night I was watching TV and I saw Blue Planet II. I watched it and cried, laughed, fell in love and then at the end I saw The Open University come up in the credits. It was almost like a sign. I looked into it, and it was literally like a match made in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe first thing I noticed about the degree I chose is that it has built-in honours. Here in South Africa, you have to do your undergraduate degree, qualify, and then apply to do honours. Whereas this is built-in. Plus, with the OU degree being from the UK, it almost gives you more opportunity to go and work there and work around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a passion for environmental sustainability, Talia originally signed up for a BSc Natural Sciences degree. However, when she was offered a new career opportunity, she was able to switch her degree path to help her progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started working within a consultancy to support multinational FMCG organisations,\u201d she explained. \u201cI immediately thought \u2018this is where I need to be\u2019. I said to myself, as much as I\u2019m loving studying Natural Sciences, it\u2019s not where I need to be career-wise. I needed to do something in the field I\u2019m working in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fortunate enough to go to the OU where making a switch of your degree subject is easy to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Career-boosting skills<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Like many OU students, Talia chose to complete her degree while also working. She says that having the flexibility to study on her terms meant she could gain hands-on work experience and apply her skills straight to her workplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely think being an OU student sets you apart in the working world. I\u2019m now qualified with my honours and I’ve already got over 2 years of working experience and that wouldn’t have happened if I was at a standard brick university. I\u2019ve got skills that some graduates would have to gain coming into the workforce,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cStudying at the OU gives you those practical life skills, no matter what age you are, no matter what you\u2019re studying. What it imparts in you is so practical that it automatically gives you that step ahead that you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
A supportive international community<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Talia now works as a consultant<\/p><\/div>\n
Despite studying through time zones, Talia says that her OU tutors were always on hand to support her and help set her up for success.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the lecturers I\u2019ve had have been understanding, all of them have been accommodating and all of them have gone above and beyond to help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recommend the OU all the time because it gives you that freedom, but you get the support you need too. I really believe that the OU is the future of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to her own future, Talia feels well-equipped to apply everything she\u2019s learned to keep progressing in her career. She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 100% certain that the skills I\u2019ve gained of time management, diligence, self-learning and collective thinking are the fundamentals that are really going to help me to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife changes and we change. While environmental sustainability isn\u2019t the main focus of my career anymore, I\u2019m still able to utilise my passion to build ethical and sustainable business practices within the consultancy space I work in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advice for future students<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Asked what advice she would give to someone thinking about studying at the OU, Talia had this to say:<\/p>\n
\u201cJust do it! You will definitely not regret it. As long as you are committed, dedicated and diligent, it\u2019ll be a dream. The OU tutors, students and the general university will guide you the rest of the way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe OU has allowed me to mature and become more independent. It gave me so much confidence, self-assurance and just a sense of belonging that I don\u2019t think I could see myself anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When choosing her next step after college, Talia from South Africa says The Open University was the perfect fit. Now a proud graduate, 22-year-old Talia is using the skills she developed through her BSc (Honours) Open degree to get ahead in her consultancy career. \u201cI look at where I am in my life at 22 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1525,1640,1643,2146],"class_list":["post-22272","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\/22272","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=22272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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