{"id":8081,"date":"2018-03-29T14:51:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T14:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=8081"},"modified":"2018-03-29T14:51:54","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T14:51:54","slug":"anne-overcomes-adversity-to-reach-her-graduation-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/arts-social-sciences\/society-politics\/anne-overcomes-adversity-to-reach-her-graduation-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne overcomes adversity to reach her graduation goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anne is 69 and has wanted to achieve her degree her entire adult life. Having left school at 15 and started her career as a telephonist and receptionist, she married and gave birth to her daughter, Sandra. After her husband sadly passed in 1984, she battled with bladder cancer and severe arthritis. Recovering after years of treatment, she remarried and enrolled with The Open University. Anne describes achieving her degree as her \u201cpersonal goal\u201d in life. She recently graduated with a BSc in Social Sciences at the Gateshead Degree Ceremony.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A long and challenging journey to study<\/h2>\n

Anne\u00a0was born in 1948 and lived in Gateshead. After failing the 11+, she went to a secondary comprehensive, left at 15, and started work straight away in an office:<\/p>\n

\"Anne

Anne Sadler graduated with a BSc in Social Sciences<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI eventually joined the General Post Office as a telephonist and that\u2019s where I met my husband, Colin. We married in 1968 and we moved south for his career. In 1974 I gave birth to my daughter, Sandra. It wasn\u2019t until two years later that I started to think about study again. I used to listen to the very early morning radio programmes by the OU and enjoyed them, but I couldn\u2019t listen properly as I had a little toddler hurtling around at 18 months old. I really wanted to study, but my husband regularly traveled for work and I had nobody to care for Sandra.<\/p>\n

\u201cSadly, in 1984, my husband had a heart attack and passed away. At 35, I found myself a widow with a nine-year-old daughter so decided to move back to Newcastle, bought a house and settled. I started to consider a degree again to keep myself busy so I contacted Northumbria University. They suggested it was possible, but I would have to work \u2013 I knew nothing about applying for grants and loans \u2013 to fund my studies and I wouldn’t be able to work and study full time, so I let it drift again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determination through adversity<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt was always at the back of my mind that I wanted to study, because I felt that I should have passed the 11+. I decided that it would have to wait for retirement; I remarried in 2008 and, after retiring at 60, I was accepted as a mature student by Northumbria University.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year later and another hurdle came – my health deteriorated. I had severe arthritis and, whilst being wheelchair-bound, was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I had to leave my studies again. However, the cancer was treated and my arthritis settled. I was so determined to study again, because I loved my first year at Northumbria University and it was a personal goal for me. So I researched other options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning curve to being a student<\/h2>\n

Anne decided to enrol because of a friend who suggested studying with the OU:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most challenging element was the assignments. For me, academic writing is quite difficult, but you learn that. Also, I am not very technical so I had support from my daughter, and the rest of the family,\u00a0 when I was stuck with the online student portal.<\/p>\n

The great thing about the OU is that it is there for you; although you are studying on your own, there is always support from your support team and your tutor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cGo Grandma!\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cAll that studying has brought me to now. I could have completed another year for the Honours, but I thought, I\u2019ve achieved what I wanted to with massive support from all of the family and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recently collected my degree at the Gateshead Degree Ceremony and was absolutely terrified walking across the stage. I\u2019m basically a shy person so I had my head down, shook hands with the Chancellor, and as I was walking to the other end of the stage, I heard my grandchildren shout: \u201cGo Grandma!\u201d<\/p>\n

Advice for anyone considering studying with the OU<\/h2>\n

\u201cEnsure that you are interested in the subject and be prepared to read lots. I would say, just go for it; if you feel you can, and inside you know you can \u2013 go for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe course has made me more aware of others in society, and has widened my horizons. I don\u2019t take everything as Gospel \u2013 I look back to understand what has led to a situation. Studying Social Sciences makes you think about stories you would have previously passed by in the media; it opens your mind to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For information about the Social Sciences degree options, visit the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne is 69 and has wanted to achieve her degree her entire adult life. Having left school at 15 and started her career as a telephonist and receptionist, she married and gave birth to her daughter, Sandra. After her husband sadly passed in 1984, she battled with bladder cancer and severe arthritis. Recovering after years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,18],"tags":[132,388,593,996,2062],"class_list":["post-8081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-politics","category-student-stories","tag-anne-sadler","tag-case-study","tag-degree-ceremony","tag-graduate","tag-social-sciences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8081","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}