Earning my Honours degree with The Open University

I’m a 2020 graduate, with a BA (Honours) degree in Arts and Humanities (English Language and History) from The Open University. What a year to complete a degree but hey, here we are.

Although my degree is very academic, it may surprise people to know that I struggled greatly in school. During my first few years of school, I was very low ability, and by the time I reached year 3 (7-8 years old), I needed early years intervention for my English and Maths. Meaning, I was on the SEND register. However, I was never diagnosed with any learning disabilities, I guess the pace was too fast and I got left behind during my first years of Infant school.

The learning support teachers at my Junior school were amazing and really helped me. My English picked up and from year 5 (9-10 years old) I no longer needed any intervention for English. Maths, however, never really improved for me. I’m still to this day, not very confident with maths and get very anxious when put on the spot. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I can't do it, it just takes me a little more time than most people, and my way of working things out can be a bit awkward.

Annoyingly, during my last two years of secondary school, I had a supply teacher for Maths, and my class pretty much worked out of textbooks throughout our most important GCSE years. Being in the lower set meant that there were students in my class who liked to play up and so, I can’t blame the supply teacher for having to deal with behaviour management over teaching. Although we were lower ability, no one in my class had an EHCP (educational health care plan) and therefore, there was no LSA support in my classroom. I feel like having a supply teacher for two years is the reason why my Maths went from steadily improving in year 9, to greatly deteriorating in years 10 and 11.

There are equations that I just do not know how to do, not because I have something wrong with me but because I was never taught how to solve those equations. In other words, I have an awkward way of working out equations because I don’t actually know the method but once I do, I can figure things out pretty easily. I’m currently planning on improving my math ability through online sources.

As well as this, throughout school I was lazy, no-one was really pushing me to do better and if I’m honest, I didn't push myself either. My work was always “half-arsed” even if it was a subject I really enjoyed. I don’t remember doing my homework, but I know I did because I’ve kept old exercise books. From looking at my past assignments, I did the bare minimum. I also daydreamed a lot and would have to really try hard to focus my attention but even when I did, I’d somehow end up daydreaming again. Whenever I would snap back to reality, it would be time to do a task and I’d rather wing it than admit that I switched off. The only subjects that I really paid attention to were history, art, French and Biology but as I said previously, the work was still the bare minimum.

My inability to stay focused and motivated meant that my GCSE grades were, well…terrible. Even in subjects, I should have done well in.

GCSE Results

Art – D (my predicted grade was a B) History – E (my predicted grade was a B) English language – C English Lit – E Drama – E (My coursework was A* but everyone in my class completed the exam incorrectly) Graphic Design – E Science (applied) – D Science (Core) – D Religious studies – C Citizenship – C IT – C Maths - F

Considering that I now have a History degree, my GCSE grade for that subject is shocking.

I managed to get into sixth form college, I guess the expectation for grades was much lower back in 2008. I wanted to take History, Art, and English language. However, History and English language clashed with my Art, which was my first choice and so, me being all ...

"I'M AN ARTIST"

I decided to go down the art route.

During my 3 years at college, I retook my Maths, twice! Both times I got a GCSE grade D...still not great but better than an F. Teachers reassured me that putting my attempts on my CV would show that I am determined. No-one has really cared as of yet...and I'm now 28.

I completed my art and design diploma and surprisingly got accepted into London Metropolitan University; to complete a Foundation year as part of an Art degree. So, aged 19, I packed my bags and moved to London. However, I hated university…and it became so bad that when I finished my foundation year, I decided not to continue with my degree. It put me off art so much that I still suffer from artist’s block and find no joy from creating art like I used to. I’m trying to get back into it and improve, my art Instagram has helped a lot with that.

After I decided not to continue with university, I started working. By this point I was so done with education, I just wanted to start my life. I worked hard and throughout the next 4 years, I travelled and visited Japan, France, Hawaii, as well as many other US states and all over the Caribbean.

However, after meeting my husband who had not long graduated from the best university in Colorado. I realised that if we are to be together and live comfortably, that I needed to finish my education.

Up until then, my ambition and inner Capricorn was hidden by a lack of confidence in my academic ability.

So, with a huge push from my husband, in 2017 I started my degree with the Open University.

Why did I choose the OU? Mainly because I didn’t want to go back to a traditional university with a bunch of teenagers. I was now 25 and couldn’t care less about the “student life” …I wanted to prove to myself that I could stay motivated and focused. I also needed to work to fund my long-distance relationship and so, the OU was the perfect fit for where I was in my life.

The OU recommends that you study part-time (one module a year) however, I wanted to graduate as fast as possible, so I decided to be ambitious and study full-time whilst also working full-time.

For someone who found it difficult to focus in school, I knew I had to up my game. I’m naturally a very organised person however when it came to my degree, it became over the top. I had no time to truly relax because I had to do two 3000-word assignments every month. So, if I had written down that I had to study at 5 PM on Tuesday, then I HAD TO!

During this time, I was working as a learning support teacher at my old secondary school. In some ways, doing the same job that helped me so much during my early years of school really helped me to focus on my degree. Being surrounded by students who also struggled with school, helped me to put into perspective how far I had come and made me want to prove to my students that, just because you’re not the most academic student, doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your best. So, although it was my job was to support the learning of students, they actually supported my learning too and kept me motivated, and they never knew it.

During the 3 years I spent on my degree with the OU, I proved to myself that when I want to, I can be so determined and focused. I somehow juggled so much. Within those 3 years, I got married, travelled back and forth to the US, took driving lessons, and started an immigration process, as well as working. Then by the end of my degree, Covid19 broke out and I was forced to move to the US earlier than expected, which meant that I had to somehow finish my final assignments and move at the same time.

My OU history tutor was extremely kind and let me have an extension on one of my assignments because that particular assignment due very soon, and I had to leave the country very suddenly.

The Open University is very supportive, understanding, and is full of truly passionate students.

A lot of the students juggle work and family life, just as I did. The OU is also "one of the only three UK higher education institutions to gain accreditation in the US" (totally quoting Wikipedia here, which is always a no-no but ssssssh). It’s an impressive institute to have a degree from and is desirable throughout Europe; as OU students have to self-study and are good with time-management. You can choose to take online seminars or go to classes during the evenings or weekends. I did this a few times and on one occasion I met an amazing 80-year-old student. She had cared for her sick husband for 30 years, and once he died, she decided to do something for herself and get her history degree!

Amazing!

From my own experience and from the people I have met during my degree, I can honestly say that there is no excuse. If you want something bad enough, you can have it. You just need to work hard. It’s true, that some may have to work harder than others but honestly, earning my degree is my biggest accomplishment and it’s made me so much more confident in myself.

So, what’s next? Good question.

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, preferably History but I love teaching English too. However, in the US teachers are not paid nor treated well (then again, where are they paid the appropriate wage?). So, for now, I am a Preschool assistant teacher (3-year-olds) to which my lead has put me in charge of literacy lessons. It’s super fun but teaching 3-year-olds is definitely challenging.

I’m proud to say, that within a month of teaching my kiddos, most of them can write their names and identify the letters within their names.

As I do love teaching English, I am also taking a TEFL (Teach English as a foreign language ) course and might look into teaching English online for extra income.

However, in the future, I would like to aim a little higher, and eventually, I would like to do another degree or a master's.

#Capricorn

What I’d like you to take from this post is the phrase that we have all heard from our parents growing up… “There’s no such word as can’t”

Many people misinterpret this phrase and think it's related to bad grammar, it's not ... 'can't' is just a contraction of 'cannot' (shortened words - informal speech) and there are many of them within the English language.

But anyway, this isn't an English lesson...

What I mean by this phrase is; if you truly believe that you cannot do something, then your life has limitations and you probably won’t achieve much. However, if you are optimistic and believe in yourself and your abilities, the chances are you can do the things you thought you couldn’t.

Thanks for reading, and sorry for all the Capricorn puns.

Kerry

It's 2020 so, I can't have a graduation ceremony yet but here is my temporary graduation photo (drawn by myself).