Open Advice student: Georgia

What support can you draw on as a student? Georgia, a civil servant, values the benefits of working with others on her Social Science course.

"It’s always advisable to turn up to tutorials. Find a good group of friends or other fellow students to work together and above all, sit back and enjoy it."

Interview

Listen to Georgia's concerns about the course.

Biography

Georgia was born in Greece and has lived and worked in England, Wales, Ireland and Japan. With a PhD in Chemistry, her varied career has involved contracts in teaching, biotechnology research, administration and even acting as a translator at the Eurovision Song Contest! She is doing an OU Level 1 course in Social Sciences.

"In 1995 I got my very first permanent position in the Civil Service. This job has been the defining moment of my life: no more job-hunting or anxieties about the next job.

My main interests are knitting,cross-stitching, jewellery-making, cooking, drinking (lots of tea and coffee, real strong ale, wine, brandy) and diet (to counter-balance the cooking). My main passions are books, Beethoven and my husband Duncan.

My pet hates are tidy rooms, tidy cupboards, tidy everything, tidy lives!

I chose the OU because I can keep mentally active without disrupting my career or family life. It’s also very flexible in allowing me to choose courses I need to study at any given time.

As a scientist, I’ve found my current course a great challenge. No formulae or symbols; just words, words and more words. Learning how to handle these words that I read or hear would be invaluable at work."