A little insight on my experience with Open University

I had very best intentions to write a book review post last week but unfortunately Uni work took priority and blogging got pushed back to the bottom of my list. I have therefore decided to change the plan and write a post about the very reason why I sometimes have to neglect blogging and all other hobbies/social engagements/basic human needs like cooking or sleeping.

Part time studying with Open University.

I’m not going to go into detail as to why I decided to study with OU because this is a story for a whole separate post. Instead I want to give you a little overview of what I’m studying and how time consuming it has been so far.

I am studying towards BSc (Honours) Environmental Science degree. I am on a standard path and I need to earn 360 credits. It takes 6 years of continuous part time studies to earn this many credits. On my path there are three levels of studies which consist of modules to choose from although the choice is very limited. I am currently in the middle of my second year i.e. second module of level one. To be honest I don’t really look for what’s ahead on the path. OU is constantly changing and improving their modules. The level three modules probably won’t exist and will be replaced by different ones by the time I will get to that level.

The good thing about Level 1 modules is that I only need to pass. The results don’t add to the degree scoring. This gave me a good opportunity to get back to studying, working out schedules, planning study time etc. without the pressure of ‘degree score collecting’.

Last year in June I completed my first 60 credit (full year) module called ‘S104 Exploring Science’. This module is considered one of the most demanding and hardest Level 1 modules at Open Uni. I’m not going to lie. It was very time consuming, it was quite hard and there was SO MUCH material from EVERY scientific area you can think of. It starts with a book about Global Warming which introduces basic math needed for studying the module. It then goes through chemistry, physics, quantum physics, biology, geology and astronomy. To pass the module I had to submit 6 written assignments (so called TMAs) and pass an exam covering the whole module.

I passed. And the things I have learnt were amazing. I had some clue about bits and pieces but to know how an aspirin tablet works with body cells on a molecular level is amazing and so fascinating. This is how I know I am studying the right thing. I find it all so fascinating.
My overall examinable score was 63 and overall continuous assessment was 85, I’m very proud of these scores. English is my second language and I finished high school ten years ago with poor results. These scores are a proof that anyone can succeed if they love what they are doing and if they work hard.

Here is a cutout from one of my assignments from ‘Exploring Science’ module. I found a bit with two ‘well dones’ from my tutor for a little bragging purpose ;)

I will write a separate post about the module I am studying this year as it’s very different to this one. I also just realised how long this post is and I’m ought to stop here.