It has been just on ten years since I left the last educational institution I attended – a music institute – and in the years following the idea of ever returning to full or even part-time education was something that flitted through my mind from time to time. Having had two more children in the past few years combined with moving to live in various different countries as well as running a hotel as part of one of those moves, being able to fit in the time and space for study proved too challenging for our peripatetic lifestyle. Now that we are pretty well settled where we are Arnold decided to persuade me to sign up with the Open University – more a campaign of constant nagging to be exact – to which I finally gave in recently and signed up for my first course of study in a decade.

All the paraphernalia has at last arrived; the box of books (quite thick and heavy I noticed..), the CD’s, the DVD’s and then there is the student website to negotiate – the forums, the assignments, the tutorials at the local university. I decided to embark on a course relating to the Arts as my world pre-Arnold was heavily related to music and performance and so AA100 The Arts Past and Present seemed the ideal starting block for me. Basically it covers literature; poetry and plays ranging from Homer, Aesop and Faust through to music from Mozart, opera, films and even Madonna, so it looks very interesting and should keep me out of mischief until October. From this point I can work either towards a degree in Arts/Humanities or turn in a whole new direction for myself and head down the Sciences route – but we’ll see in a while, after I reacquaint myself with Cleopatra.

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While at the same time I have signed up with the Open University to become a student again after so many years, my son has been up to his eck in his mock exams at school. So far he feels he has done really well, save for a little apprehension regarding his maths exam but that is normal for him, so we are expecting good results in a few weeks time.

He now has his computers exam to sit next week and then geography which will be the end of the stress until the real exams come around in May. By that time I will be well into my own studies and maybe I can be a good influence on him and let him see how much his Mum gets into her own revision…somehow I doubt it though.

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My partner finally won the battle of talking me into signing up with the OU after nagging me about it for the past few years. I have decided to kick off with a course in Arts: Past and Present, after considering the online it degree, which looks do-able for me as I have to juggle three kids and a home to look after. Finding the time to do the study and work will be a challenge but we women are well able to multi-task.

The OU is a mixture of an online it degree and mainstream university in that you have a tutor online and you also attend tutorials at the local university campus where you also sit your exams. Getting back into serious study will be a challenge and I wonder where it will take me over the coming years…?

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