So this happened…

Hello the blogsphere! As you all know, I’ve been a terrible blogger over the last couple of years. I could make excuses: work commitments, pandemic, blah blah blah. But this last year I have been concentrating on something in particular, and the concentration has paid off. So…

For as long as I’ve had this blog, my ‘About Me’ page has included the following line:

‘I am also studying for a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing with the Open University.’

But on Tuesday 18th July 2023, this happened:

Yay! I finally have my degree!

It’s been a long time in the making. I started in October 2013. Yes, 10 years ago. To be fair, I didn’t intend to do a degree at the beginning. I just wanted to do a Creative Writing course to improve my skills, and the OU had a good one. However, after completing that course, I decided to turn it into a full Bachelor of Arts degree.

I have worked full-time for the duration of my studies. The degree, done part-time as I did it, takes 6 years. However, I took years out here and there, for various reasons, the last ones being during the Covid pandemic, when I found I couldn’t concentrate on studying at all. Hats off to anyone who studied through it, and also to those who do their degree while they act as carers, or bring up children, or any number of harder things than just working alongside studying.

So I do feel very proud to have completed this degree. I could not have done it without the support of long-suffering hubby, frequently mentioned on this blog over the years. Big hugs for him.

A few weeks after I got notification of my degree online, this nice thing arrived in the post:

To complete the experience, I booked a graduation ceremony. The Scottish ones were already full, so hubby and I took a wee trip to Harrogate in Yorkshire, to the Harrogate Convention Centre. It was great day, and rounded off all the years of hard work nicely.

To anyone thinking about doing a degree with the OU, I can highly recommend it. I know not everyone will have the same experiences, but overall I had great support from my tutors, especially at Level 2 and 3 (years 3-6) where it really counted, and I found the online and written study materials really good.

If you had asked me even a couple of years before I started this, I would have emphatically said that I would never return to University. Now, don’t get me wrong, I had a GREAT time at Uni when I attended straight after my school years, but NOT because of the course I was doing. 😉 Anyway, my thinking was: been there, done that. And here I am having completed 6 years of remote Uni learning, and having gained the degree I probably should have done the first time around.

In fact, I’ve had such a good time that I’m seriously considering next doing…a Master of Arts degree! In Creative Writing! WTF?! 😀 Not for a while, though – I’m taking at least a year out first. Watch this space. And also, hopefully, watch this space for more regular blog posts in the future again.

Anyway, I’m off to change my ‘About Me’ page. ‘Bye folks!

Karen xx