I have written here (and elsewhere) about the Open University and my 'adventures' studying Literature. Finally, after more than ten years, I am officially a graduate and, as proud as I am with my achievement, as I look back I'm also saddened. Because it's over.
Studying with the O.U. has been a roller-coaster of highs and lows. There have been assignments and exams where I have done far better than I expected, and also those where I have struggled to reach a grade I'm happy with. I've had more than my fair share of late nights (or indeed, all-nighters) trying to get assignments finished. I've had trouble paying for my studies, worried and panicked about finishing the degree following the change to university funding that came into affect last year. I've even had tutors that I didn't much like, and done a course that was a horrible mistake! But the truth is, despite the deadlines that always arrived too soon, the torture of studying poetry, the pile of books that loomed over me like the north-face of the Eiger, studying has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and not just for the fancy piece of paper at the end.
The Open University has exposed me to material I never would have read or studied before. It has surprised me and I have surprised myself. I honestly didn't expect to enjoy Middlemarch as much as I did, and of the parts of the course to excel in, why was it a section studying Napoleon and the French Revolution?
And so, to the Open University, I tip my mortarboard and say, "Thank you."
I am looking forward to never again having to reference the stuff I write.
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