{"id":8389,"date":"2018-04-17T15:49:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T15:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=8389"},"modified":"2018-04-17T15:49:37","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T15:49:37","slug":"47-countries-hip-hop-and-an-open-university-honours-degree-shanels-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/47-countries-hip-hop-and-an-open-university-honours-degree-shanels-story\/","title":{"rendered":"47 countries, hip-hop and an Open University Honours degree: Shanel\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Working with artists in New York as a music writer and producer of everything from hip-hop to classical, Shanel Cuthbert travelled to 47 countries during the last year of her Open University degree.<\/p>\n

Studying biological psychology was a sharp contrast to her busy life in the studio, and she\u2019s now completing her Masters in Mental Health Science with the OU, as well as finishing her first\u00a0book and hosting her own events.<\/p>\n

A degree of different subjects<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Although she had a very creative background with former study in design, advertising, music and dance, Shanel wanted to study a range of subjects with the OU. She began studying with the \u2018Understanding the Autism Spectrum\u2019 course, before moving on to Philosophy and then Astronomy. She took six years to complete her BA (Hons) Open Degree.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Shanel discovered a fascination for science<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Open University was the only educational establishment I could find globally that allowed a person to complete a degree based on an assortment of different subjects. In a world where so many qualifications are compartmentalised,\u00a0 more educational establishments need to recognise that people are not always inclined towards single areas of subjects and so do not wish to commit to a degree of 3 -4 years studying – during which time, they realise they do not like the subject area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanel\u2019s OU study drew her towards biological psychology and behavioural neuroscience.\u00a0 She says she was \u201cfascinated by the biological basis for behaviour and this interest was only sparked by modules I took with the Open University.\u201d \u00a0Shanel built her Open Degree taking courses from these areas, from cognitive psychology to molecular biology.<\/p>\n

Tutor support<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Travelling extensively throughout her degree, Shanel wasn\u2019t able to attend many of the tutorials but said the support from her Tutors was fantastic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a responsive, understanding and helpful tutor who I could contact while I was travelling, I am sure, helped me gain good marks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing with creativity, and science<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Although she didn\u2019t have any plans to study beyond her degree, Shanel\u2019s viewpoint changed as she discovered subjects that ignited her interest. \u201cAlthough I have a creative business working with music and I am a very creative person, I am also very scientifically inclined and possess a mind that enjoys scientific study and now I can continue in both areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanel is now writing her first memoir based on her personal experiences, and is giving talks and organising events on self-development topics.\u00a0 You can find out more at her website\u00a0www.shanelcuthbert.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Working with artists in New York as a music writer and producer of everything from hip-hop to classical, Shanel Cuthbert travelled to 47 countries during the last year of her Open University degree. Studying biological psychology was a sharp contrast to her busy life in the studio, and she\u2019s now completing her Masters in Mental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,22],"tags":[388,1976,2006],"class_list":["post-8389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","category-university-news","tag-case-study","tag-science-degree","tag-shanel-cuthbert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8389","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}