{"id":25482,"date":"2024-08-02T12:46:49","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T11:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=25482"},"modified":"2024-12-11T10:10:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T10:10:52","slug":"take-that-leap-of-faith-and-build-your-own-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/business-law\/take-that-leap-of-faith-and-build-your-own-future\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Take that leap of faith and build your own future’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After years of torment from bullies, Shayda was forced to leave school before finishing her A Levels. With dreams of becoming a barrister, The Open University\u2019s (OU) open entry policy allowed her to reclaim her education and take control of her future.<\/p>\n

Now, at 23, Shayda from Folkestone has just finished her first year of a Bachelor (Honours) of Law<\/a> with distinction and has gained valuable work experience that has moved her closer to her goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in 2012 when I started secondary school, I wasn\u2019t the most confident 11-year-old, but I was determined to create the best experience I could,\u201d Shayda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYear 7 started really well and I met some amazing people, but my experience sadly took an unexpected turn as the years went on and unfortunately it didn\u2019t work out how I\u2019d pictured. I was faced with years of severe bullying for the duration of my time at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got to 16 years old, I\u2019d had an especially tough time at school, which cumulated in an ambulance being called to my house, as my friend\u2019s parents were concerned I\u2019d taken an overdose. After this day, I began telling my parents everything and they finally learnt the severity of my situation. Without my parent\u2019s love and support I never would have made it to where I am today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t last much longer at school and only made it halfway through my first year of sixth form. I walked through the school gates and I never went back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second chance at education<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After leaving school, Shayda started helping her dad with his restaurant. An appearance in court where she represented the business, introduced Shayda to a new world and inspired her to research routes into law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find out how I could go to university without A Levels and that’s when the OU came up. My dad was the one who said if you don’t do it, you’ll never know whether you\u2019ll enjoy it or how easy it is. And here I now am, I’ve finished one year already. I’m so glad I listened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through Shayda\u2019s studies, she\u2019s been able to embrace new opportunities, like volunteering at her local court and speaking in front of a women\u2019s networking group.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy degree has made me feel like I’ve got something for me. It\u2019s given me a newfound confidence to apply for anything that comes my way, like the shadowing experience at Canterbury Crown Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I’ve worked with my dad, I’ve always known that’s not what I want to do in the long term. The OU has given me a chance to start again. No one can take my education away. I\u2019ve proven to myself and to everyone else that I can do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I\u2019ve graduated, I\u2019d like to move to London to study the Bar exam. My goal is to become a barrister in America. I\u2019d also love to set up my own association to advocate for more diversity in the legal industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

You have the power<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Shayda shares her advice for anyone who has been impacted by bullying or has faced a challenging past.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever regret your past if you wouldn\u2019t change the life you have today. I really hated my time at secondary school until it got to the stage where I didn\u2019t see the point of life anymore. But without the experience, I never would have left school, worked with my parents and had the opportunity to go to the OU.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud that after seven years, sharing my story doesn\u2019t make me sad anymore. I\u2019m grateful to my dad and my friend Katelyn who I met through the OU for giving me the confidence to share my experience with others. It happened and I moved on, but looking at the life I have now, I wouldn\u2019t change a single thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake that leap of faith and build your own future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Explore how you could progress with your OU journey. Register before 5 September<\/a>\u00a0for courses starting this October.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of torment from bullies, Shayda was forced to leave school before finishing her A Levels. With dreams of becoming a barrister, The Open University\u2019s (OU) open entry policy allowed her to reclaim her education and take control of her future. Now, at 23, Shayda from Folkestone has just finished her first year of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,18],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-25482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-law","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25482","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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26429,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25482\/revisions\/26429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}