{"id":25812,"date":"2024-10-01T11:53:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T10:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=25812"},"modified":"2025-04-15T13:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:08:56","slug":"realising-my-dreams-of-becoming-a-teacher-wouldnt-be-possible-without-the-ou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/education-languages-health\/realising-my-dreams-of-becoming-a-teacher-wouldnt-be-possible-without-the-ou\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Realising my dreams of becoming a teacher wouldn\u2019t be possible without the OU’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eilidh, 21, from Fife, who was born with Cerebral Palsy is non-verbal and uses a device to communicate. Even with additional challenges, Eilidh has embraced a love of languages through her BA (Honours) in Language Studies<\/a> degree with The Open University (OU). After learning German and French, she\u2019s now on her way to mastering Spanish, Polish and Italian.<\/p>\n

At school, German was the first subject that gained Eilidh an A-grade, which sparked a life-long obsession with learning languages.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I enjoyed school, I only managed to receive a maximum of a C in my subjects until I discovered German. I\u2019d found what I was good at and excelled at the subject. It was the first time I\u2019d ever been awarded an A for my work,\u201d Eilidh shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing my unexpected success, I decided to continue my German studies at college and went on to win two awards, including the \u2018German Student of the Year\u2019 prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, without an English A Level or Scottish Higher, it wasn\u2019t possible for me to study languages at a traditional university. This was when I discovered the OU. Its open entry policy meant that I could pursue my dreams of becoming a German teacher for children with additional support needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been inspired by my college tutor, Isobel \u2013 as her first non-verbal student, we had learnt together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy education was back on track!\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a community <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not only is Eilidh expanding her language knowledge, but she\u2019s also met two close friends through her OU studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier this year, I attended a day school in Edinburgh despite not wanting to because of my shyness. I\u2019m so glad I gave into all the advice that my mom and Isobel had been giving me. They didn\u2019t let me not go and this meant that I could meet other students and tutors in real life,\u201d said Eilidh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day school boosted my confidence, as everyone was amazed by my German skills and it introduced me to my \u2018OU bestie\u2019, Chloe.<\/p>\n

\u201cChloe and my other university friend, Aoife are always there to talk to without judgement. OU study doesn\u2019t have to be a solo journey if you don\u2019t want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Travelling to Germany <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Having a disability hasn\u2019t stopped Eilidh from seizing every opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of June, I was scrolling through the university forums when I saw the final call for sign-ups to go to somewhere called Jena for a 6-day-long summer course studying German at the city university.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the support of my mum and tutor, we made it happen. The classes were from 9am to 3pm, from Sunday to Friday. Outside of my classes, I was also able to have 1-2-1 conversations with a few other students from the university, which really pushed my German.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy skills were also further developed by having to be the main communicator for my mum, who doesn\u2019t speak German. I was ordering food at restaurants and even dealt with the fast-speaking receptionist at our hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am already making plans to hit the markets in cologne this Christmas, pretty soon one won\u2019t be able to get me out of Germany!\u201d<\/p>\n

Exciting plans ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Eilidh is on track to creating her career goals. She has some final words for others who may be on the fence about studying with the OU.<\/p>\n

\u201cPursuing my dreams of becoming a teacher wouldn\u2019t be possible without the OU \u2013 it means everything to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re thinking about studying with the OU, I\u2019d say \u2018do it\u2019 \u2013 it will be a great decision that you won\u2019t regret.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince studying with the OU, I am more confident and willing to make friends. I\u2019ve even run for an election. There\u2019s nothing stopping me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Begin your future today with the OU. <\/strong>Register before 9<\/strong> January<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for courses starting in February.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eilidh, 21, from Fife, who was born with Cerebral Palsy is non-verbal and uses a device to communicate. Even with additional challenges, Eilidh has embraced a love of languages through her BA (Honours) in Language Studies degree with The Open University (OU). After learning German and French, she\u2019s now on her way to mastering Spanish, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,18],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-25812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-languages-health","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25812","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=25812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27102,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25812\/revisions\/27102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}