I shamefully admit that I started my first OU module in 2004 but only just discovered OUSA last summer following a slight feeling of study isolation and a desire to meet like-minded students. I got involved with the hope of getting to know a few students from my region and maybe join in with a group or club, but to my amazement (and slight horror), no such thing existed. The OU has the biggest student population of any university in the UK yet I didn’t know anyone else studying with them and didn’t know HOW to get in touch with anyone, so I sent a few random emails to addresses I found on the OUSA website and waited excitedly for a reply.
Now to cut a long story short, a few months after showing an interest in the Association I’ve ended up becoming a member of the Executive Committee and am now nicely involved in the behind the scenes workings of OUSA and now I kick myself for not getting involved with them sooner! OUSA is directly involved with so many different aspects of the university which I would bet most students don’t have a clue about, but OUSA is there to protect their rights and make sure that they get as much information as possible from the university – who WOULDN’T want to be involved in that?
The Association is going through a big change at present so from this year it will be far easier for students to get involved in a more social side of things with opportunities to set up or join groups which share similar interests (which could be anything from the “Darlington Drinkers” which would be a more local group, to the “Hellvellyn Hikers” which could be a nationwide shared interest group). I’m looking forward to seeing this side of OUSA flourish and given the changing demographics of OU students anyway I think this could be a smart yet sneaky way of getting students initially drawn into the Association, at which point it could attempt to recruit for the business/serious side.
I’ve been down to Milton Keynes twice this year already for OUSA-related things. Firstly, for a briefing weekend about the Futures project, and secondly in my capacity as a Central Representative for a Senate Reference Group meeting. Either the OU or OUSA cover all expenses incurred on the trips so all it costs is my time, of which I have plenty to spare for such a worthy cause. I’ve got a few more trips in my diary from now until April and I’m looking forward to every single one. Everyone involved with OUSA is so friendly and so willing to help me out with anything I don’t yet fully understand that in a cheesy way it does make me feel like part of a big community striving towards the greater good for all students.
As well as making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside for contributing to the cause, I freely admit that my involvement with the Association is also for selfish reasons. Given the path I want to tread beyond the OU and comparing it to the one I currently have to tread (in order to pay my mortgage and keep a fairly secure job), my present employment isn’t particularly useful in terms of giving me the experience and knowledge I need in order to improve my chances of getting where I want to be, so this is where OUSA steps in. They’ll provide any training necessary, cover any expenses incurred in me GETTING to the training, they’re willing to let me be involved in almost any way I’m willing and/or able to, and in return for my enthusiasm and willingness to learn I’m able to rewrite my CV to include far more nouns than before under the heading ‘experience’.
I’d strongly urge anyone reading this to look into OUSA if you haven’t already. After all, distance learning can be such a solitary way of studying, wouldn’t it be nice to feel like you’re part of one big happy OU family?!
(3 votes)
