{"id":30697,"date":"2026-08-25T12:32:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/?p=30697"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:09:24","slug":"turning-a-passion-into-a-future-danes-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/turning-a-passion-into-a-future-danes-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning a passion into a future: Dane’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

We believe some student stories deserve to be made into a movie. That’s why The Open University teamed up with LADbible to transform Dane’s story into a film-style trailer. The movie might not be real, but it’s inspired by true events. Read on to discover the experiences, ambitions and achievements behind Dane’s story below…<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever wondered if the thing you’re interested in could actually shape what you do in the future? Growing up, while others were interested in football or pop stars, Dane was drawn to fossils and natural history. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He watched David Attenborough documentaries religiously and dreamed of becoming a palaeontologist. The ambition was there. He just wasn’t sure what route could take him to where he wanted to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNobody could really advise me on what the path was to become this,\u201d explains Dane.<\/p>\n

Without knowing how to turn that dream into a career, Dane ended up working a mix of jobs. But his fascination with palaeontology never disappeared.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chasing a childhood dream<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Everything changed when Dane was about to become a father.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking a lot about what example I want to set. I really want to be able to tell my kid to follow her dreams and be the person that she wants to be. And it got to me \u2013 I haven’t really done it myself.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dane began exploring opportunities to get him closer to his dream career. But struggled to find a local university that matched his interests or fit his busy schedule \u2013 until he discovered The Open University (OU).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Choosing an OU Natural Sciences degree<\/a> gave Dane the flexibility to study without putting his life on hold. He\u2019s able to combine studying online with family life, freelance work and a part-time role at a museum.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s already used his studies as a platform to seek out opportunities of his own. He’s now working as part of a museum education team, running events and taking part in science outreach.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing on this course has opened me up to opportunities to do things I\u2019ve always wanted to do from digging on fossil sites to wildlife surveys,\u201d he shares.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these things which a few years ago would have been completely beyond what I thought was achievable.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a degree<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dane\u2019s even found himself meeting archaeologists whose work he’d known and admired long before starting his degree.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And on a fossil dig in Poland, he uncovered something that had been buried for around 210 million years. For three days, he searched his small section of the site and found nothing. Then he lifted a slab of rock and underneath was a fossilised fang from a labyrinthodont \u2013 a type of giant prehistoric amphibian. For someone who had once struggled to see a way into this world, it was a pretty special moment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s something really cosmically exciting about being the person to bring a fossil out of the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this could just be the beginning.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dane is now approaching the end of his Natural Sciences degree \u2013 but there are plenty more things he wants to achieve. He’s working on an original research project in dinosaur ecomorphology with Dr Suresh Singh, a postgraduate researcher at The Open University and continuing to build experience through his museum work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further ahead, he’d like to study for a PhD as another step towards his longer-term goal of working in palaeontology.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflecting on how far he\u2019s come, Dane says studying with The Open University has allowed him to do things he\u2019s always wanted to. And to show employers that he\u2019s serious about his subject.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Enrolling with The Open University is absolutely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s allowed me to carry on working part-time and allowed me to look after my family and raise my daughter at the same time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI 100% wouldn\u2019t be working in the museum if it wasn\u2019t for the OU. Just being on the university course showed that I wasn\u2019t just some guy who\u2019s into fossils. This is something I\u2019m invested in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s allowed me to do some really cool stuff and meet people. Getting on a first name basis with people whose books I read as a kid is really crazy. Just like the degree, the extent to which my life has changed over the past few years is extraordinary.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ready to start your story?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t need to have everything figured out. You just need somewhere to start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Discover where The Open University could take you: <\/span>explore courses\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We believe some student stories deserve to be made into a movie. That’s why The Open University teamed up with LADbible to transform Dane’s story into a film-style trailer. The movie might not be real, but it’s inspired by true events. Read on to discover the experiences, ambitions and achievements behind Dane’s story below…\u00a0 Ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":30698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1525,1640,1643,2142],"class_list":["post-30697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news","tag-student-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30697","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=30697"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30712,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30697\/revisions\/30712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}