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Contaminated Land Officer, Elgin
Studying with the OU has helped Tracey MacPherson to get her life on track, while boosting her career and income potential.
After leaving a career in the army to have her son, Tracey Macpherson soon found herself on a low income. To help prepare for a different career, she decided to join the OU.
“I had left school with my Highers but at the time I thought university and further studying wasn’t for me,” she says. “It’s not until you get further down the line that you realise the benefits of having further education.”
After gaining a Diploma in Environmental Policy, Tracey had to put her studies on hold when the pressures of being a single mum with a full-time job became too much.
A few years later, she took advantage of the OU’s flexible approach to return to study. She quickly found that her degree, which she completed last year, helped her to progress in hercareer.
“I got promoted because of my degree,” she says. “A promoted post came up which was two levels above me. I applied and got it. If I hadn’t got my degree, I wouldn’t have been considered for the post.”
Retired Police Officer, Cupar
An OU science short course has helped Keith Jackson to understand and manage a serious health condition.
Three years ago as an active police officer only in his 40s, Keith Jackson was shocked to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
He decided that the best way forward was to find out as much as he could about the condition. He enrolled for Diabetes Care, one of a new programme of OU short courses exploring major health issues, designed to help people with diabetes understand the disease and how it is treated. “I wanted to do the course to make sure that my knowledge was the best it could be,” he explains.
By learning more about his condition, Keith was able both to empower himself as an ‘expert patient’, and also to set up a support group for others in the police force living and working with diabetes.
“It’s all about self-empowerment and learning about the condition and treating yourself, and being aware of how to treat yourself,” he says.
He has also found that his knowledge about his condition, and crucially how it affects the individual, better equips him to talk to doctors and health professionals.
IT Consultant, Armadale, Sutherland
Studying with the OU gave Marie Khalil the knowledge and confidence she needed to develop her own business.
Marie Khalil found studying management with The Open University an invaluable resource to draw upon when she formed Armadale International Ltd, an IT consultancy business.”
I first studied for an MBA, which was crucial in giving me the skills and the confidence I need to interact with people at all levels in the multi-national organisations I work with,” she explains.
Marie’s work requires her to travel extensively. The flexibility and portability of Open University study means she has been able to connect to the OU’s learning and support resources from anywhere in the world and has now also completed an OU MSc in International Finance and Management.
“Studying with The Open University has consolidated a lot of the knowledge I already had. It has made my pictures become more complete,” she says. “I’m always so busy that I rarely take the time to sit down and really think about my own business from a strategic viewpoint. The OU courses have helped me to do this and to apply what I’ve learned to our business.”
Last updated: June 2010
