40th Anniversary of the Open University

I was looking on the BBCi Player for something to watch, and I came across a programme celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Open University.

Lenny Henry was fronting it as he had been a student at the O.U., and I found it fascinating how the whole conception of a University education for all had been envisioned and made possible all those years ago, when I was just a child of 7 - there, that tells you my age, doesn't it? {grin}

I remember all those late night-early morning programmes, normally on some obscure, to me, scientific topic, that I ended up watching when my daughter was a baby, and teething, or ill and, although I didn't understand a lot of it, it still fascinated me. Then, later on, as TV became a lot more sophisticated, how I enjoyed the many programmes made in conjunction with the BBC, especially all the earth sciences ones. They brought a taste of the world into my back-of-the-beyond home, which started up that thirst for learning once more, although I chose Literature and Humanities, rather than Science.

This programme has also made me think of how easily it might have been stopped at a few points in it's early years - and I wondered just how many people's lives would have been so different if it hadn't been continued. I will be forever thankful for all those early pioneers, both in government, and the course writers and tutors, for all their work that ensured that the O.U. became a leader in home learning.

It makes me shudder a little, to think of how easily I might not have been able to continue my education. An education that had been halted due to financial necessity, as I was needed to bring home a wage packet at the time I wanted to go on with my learning. It amazes me that I hadn't really heard of the O.U. at that time, at least, I wasn't aware that it might be an option for me, otherwise I would definitely have become a student then. I guess the people responsible for advising me of my options, as conservative as they were, didn't think it necessary to mention this wonderful choice - I guess I'll never know why. But I am eternally grateful, to my daughter initially, and then my husband, for encouraging me to "go for it," as my daughter said!

Because of all those dedicated people, 40 years ago, I am now half-way through my degree and, even now, I'm desperately trying to think of ways that I can finance going for an MA once my BA is under my belt!

That's the problem with this O.U. lark - it's so impossibly addictive! {grin}

I've got a date for publishing!

At last!

I received an email this morning, from the publisher of the anthology, 'Poetry By Moonlight', telling me that it will be released in September. I can't wait to receive my copy, and read my poem On The Trapeze.

Obviously, I can read the poem any time I choose, but to see it in a professionally bound anthology is going to be brilliant! Lol

Not only that, but the other poem of mine to be published, St David Was Born Here, is to be published in November, in the anthology, 'A Guiding Light'.

All it needs now, is for me to hear from the magazine publishers I sent my very first sci-fi story out to, to see if they have accepted it!

A girl can dream, can't she? {g}

In the email, United Press were telling me that they've got another poetry competition going:

There's a £100 first prize in the open competition, Fact and Fantasy. You can enter by post or email and make sure you put “Fact and Fantasy” at the top of your entry. Your poem can be on any subject you like but must be no more than 160 words or 20 lines, and you can't use “Fact and Fantasy” as the title. Send your entries now because this competition closes in September.

Also, there's a £1000 prize to the winner of their annual Local Poem competition. You must put “Local Poem” at the top of your entry and the theme must be someone or something local. For example, last year's winner was a poem about two cooling towers. The previous year's winner was a poem about a river, and three years ago, the winner was about village life.

You could write a poem about a famous person or even a member of your family, living or dead. You could write a poem about your local bus driver or your greengrocer. The same length limitations apply to this competition.

Here's the link to their website with all the rules and regs, etc:

http://www.unitedpress.co.uk/competitions/

Best of luck to everyone that puts something into it! Lol.

P.S. Only 10 more days before I find out my ECA results!

And another poem is being published!

I opened my post yesterday, and one of the letters I had informed me that, although I hadn't won 1st prize in the poetry contest I'd entered, they did wish to publish my poem, St David Was Born Here, in a new anthology called 'A Guiding Light'.
I am well pleased about this, as the more work I have out there, the better chance I have of being seen one day, maybe!
We can all dream I suppose . . .
There's no money in it, but I don't care much at the moment - it's just lovely that I was considered good enough to publish, especially as this was a national competition, so there must have been tons of entries! I also get to keep the copyright of my poem, which I'm pleased about as, one day, I'd love to be able to gather all my poems together in an anthology solely for my own work - now that is a goal to aim for!

On the sci-fi story front - still no news. But I keep the axiom that no news is good news firmly in mind, and I'm hoping that the longer it takes, the more chance there is that my story will be accepted . . .

Only another 20 days to go before we get our ECA results! I'm really starting to get nervous with all the waiting. Mind you, all the other students I've spoken to are in exactly the same boat, and we all think it a kind of torture, to have to wait so long after submission for the results - and, yes, we all understand the sheer volume of stuff that needed to be marked, and marked fairly to boot - but it doesn't stop the knee-jerk reaction we all seem to have that we'll fail miserably for one reason or another. I don't suppose there's even one student out there who isn't looking at the work they've done, and haven't found something that they think is a glaringly bad mistake! Lol
But, whatever happens, I'm fairly sure the majority of us will pass, some with distinction, no doubt, although I'll never be able to place myself in that category - my poor old memory makes sure of that! Lol

In the meantime, we all wait, and hope, and desperately try to distract ourselves with whatever we can until D-Day arrives.

Whatever your marks out there, well done for completing your course!


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Soon D-Day will be looming!

I checked my studenthome today, and there was a notice that the results of my ECA will be available on Friday 7th August . . . I don't know whether to be excited or nervous with the wait right now, but I think the next 33 days are going to drag more than the last ones did!

It's a strange old time I'm living through at the moment - I've finished A215, but am nowhere near to starting A363 as yet. It's like being in Limbo, really, with the same feeling of time slowing down to a dragging pace. It doesn't help that I'm feeling so poorly at the moment, with all the rain and damp. I really want to be doing things at the moment but, as usual, my poor old body is letting me down.

One thing I am doing, is reading the book list for EA300: Children's literature. I know I won't be doing it until October 2010 but, as I had some of the books already, I decided to gradually gather them all, as I could afford them, and read them through now.
I'm in the middle of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott at the moment, something I read in my junior years and, I must say, I'm thoroughly enjoying the trip back to my younger years, with the emotions I remembered feeling when I first read the book overlaying the more analytical me of today. In fact, I'm enjoying Little Women so much, that I've just ordered the follow-ons from eBay. I never did read any further than Good Wives, so it'll be nice to know what happened next. Lol

It's amazing how my study with the O.U. has changed the way I look at, and read, books now. Even the ones I choose for recreation can't be read without the analysis I was taught to bring to my studies.
But I think it brings a deeper pleasure for me, to understand more the motivations of character and plot, and I love to speculate what brought the author of whatever my current reading may be, to the ideas behind each story - I always did love a mystery, and I have one with every book I pick up nowadays, especially all the so-called 'children's' books I'm now reading!

Anyway, my reading will, hopefully, fill in some of the time I have spare at the moment, until October comes. And I'm determined to read through some of the study ideas that are appropriate for A363, that the O.U. put up for anyone to sample - to wet my appetite for the new course ahead, if nothing else!