So, I’m going back to school after all these years. I had, for various reasons, almost given up hope of doing that. Age (I’m 64) is one factor. Disability is another. Unpredictable brain fog from fibromyalgia is another – especially at exam time.
Here in the UK we have a fabulous institution called the Open University (OU). It is a distance education university. Tutorials and supplementary materials (apart from course books) are delivered online. Essays, known as TMAs (Tutor-Marked Assignments) are submitted electronically. You get the picture. Each course you take with them has a number of points awarded if you pass. Typical courses are 30-60 points, with 60 points being equivalent of half an academic year of full-time learning. 360 points at the required levels will get you a BA or BSc with honours. Points make prizes*, you see? The majority of OU students take 6 years to graduate as they are usually studying part-time around a job and/or other commitments.
Years ago I studied with the OU, gaining 240 points – the equivalent of 2 years’ full time study at undergraduate level. I therefore thought that I would ‘simply’ need to successfully complete 2×60 point courses at level 3 to claim my degree. Silly me! How could things possibly be that simple? You see, there’s a time limit on the applicability (That is a word, right?) of previous study to new study. In the case of the OU, it’s 16 years. I finished my last course with them 16 years ago but, as I can’t start new study until October 2026, it will have timed-out.
*Rant Alert* This would make sense to me in fields – Physics, for example – where new discoveries are being made all the time. This can easily mean that previous studies are now entirely outdated. However, I plan on studying for a BA in history. I am undecided between modern or classical (Greats). Now, so far as I am aware, Homer ain’t publishing any new work, so invalidating my previous studies seems unreasonable. But Da Roolz is Da Roolz.
I’m annoyed, can you tell?
So I’m going to start my studies from the beginning – mostly out of stubbornness and sheer bloody-mindedness. Incidentally, I am told by a dear friend that this is exactly what drives PhD students. They should know, ‘cos they are one.
Perhaps I will find enough of that to drive me all the way to piling it higher and deeper eventually?
* Catchphrase from an old UK game show.
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