As excitement builds for the Paris Paralympic Games, we caught up with Darren who, whilst competing in two separate Paralympic disciplines, completed a Psychology Conversion Course with The Open University (OU).<\/p>\n
Darren reflects how the flexibility of OU study made it possible to juggle the demands of training with an intensive postgraduate programme, in a field that was completely new to him.<\/p>\n
A rare eye condition caused Darren\u2019s sight to deteriorate throughout his childhood, leaving him completely blind by the time he reached his 20s. Having loved sports from a young age, Darren discovered a national league for blind players where his talent was noticed by the then England coach, Tony Larkin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSport was always a part of me \u2013 it was in my DNA. I love the connection of sport – that one thing that brings people together,\u201d says Darren. \u201cI made my England debut in 1996 and became captain of the team in 2002.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning medals in six consecutive European Championships and helping the team qualify for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, Darren was top of his game when he made the switch to Judo \u2013 a sport he\u2019d enjoyed at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball and Judo aren\u2019t as different as they appear to be. I used to view Judo as an individual sport, but I realised when I took it up professionally that you\u2019re so reliant on the team,\u201d explains Darren.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s counting on your training partner to show up or the expertise the coaches and the support team bring \u2013 like football, you can only be as good as the team around you.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was while Darren was preparing for Beijing that his interest in psychology was sparked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all given the opportunity to speak with Pete Lindsay, a sports psychologist,\u201d Darren remembers. \u201cI was sceptical about it at first, but I came away wanting to know more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whilst still training, Darren embarked on a psychology conversion course \u2013 an intensive post-graduate programme in a subject your degree or career hasn\u2019t prepared you for.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first degree was in maths, where there\u2019s a definite right or wrong, whereas psychology is more nuanced,\u201d says Darren. \u201cYou discover about the world around you and can better understand it. I learned a lot about myself, particularly around attachment and relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now inspiring others to reach their potential through motivational speaking, mentoring and peak performance coaching, Darren regularly uses tools and techniques he developed during his time at the OU.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sessions are more rounded, and I can draw on what I learned to help motivate those I\u2019m working with,\u201d Darren reflects. \u201cI went from being a sceptic to a scholar – OU study taught me to have a more critical eye and look more deeply into the information I\u2019m presented with.\u201d<\/p>\n
With access to audio and video recordings, a student support team and digital talking books, Darren found OU study \u201crevolutionary\u201d compared to his maths degree at a red-brick university in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found the OU very accommodating of my needs \u2013 they were also receptive to feedback on how things could be improved,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Although studying while training for competitions was challenging, Darren found himself well prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was physically tired, I found my studies a great way to switch off from sport. They\u2019re two different skill sets but you need the same qualities \u2013 determination, being able to work independently and having very clear goals,\u201d says Darren.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven exams are a bit like competitions \u2013 you have to give your best performance on the day, even if you\u2019re not feeling your best.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a sportsperson with high levels of self-motivation, Darren was a perfect fit for independent study, but he also enjoyed being part of the OU\u2019s student community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met people from all different backgrounds and I\u2019m still in touch with several of them now, it\u2019s great to hear what they\u2019re up to when we catch up,\u201d says Darren. \u201cMy advice to anyone studying at the OU, is to find a way to connect with people \u2013 we\u2019re social animals by nature, human connection is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plagued by injury, Darren left Judo behind in 2011, but still managed to compete at one last Paralympic Games – London 2012 – with a return to the blind football team.<\/p>\n
Since then, his outstanding contributions to charitable causes have earned Darren an honorary doctorate from The Open University and he\u2019s helped people from all walks of life through his business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss the camaraderie of sport – the excitement and exhilaration – but everyone needs a reason to get up in the morning, so I find it helpful to create clear goals,\u201d Darren shares. \u201cI\u2019m aiming to inspire a million people\u2026 and I\u2019m not far off!\u201d<\/p>\n
A lifelong sports fan, Darren will be cheerleading the Paris Olympic and Paralympic teams from afar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the opportunity to go out to the village, but already had speaking engagements booked, so I\u2019ll be following the games from home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darren adds, \u201cI know a few of the athletes competing, so I\u2019ll be rooting for them especially.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As excitement builds for the Paris Paralympic Games, we caught up with Darren who, whilst competing in two separate Paralympic disciplines, completed a Psychology Conversion Course with The Open University (OU). Darren reflects how the flexibility of OU study made it possible to juggle the demands of training with an intensive postgraduate programme, in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13,18],"tags":[1525,1640,2142],"class_list":["post-25502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-social-sciences","category-psychology","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-student-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25502","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\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}