Huge apoligise....

Hi guys...

I am aware that I haven't been active through the past few months... Unfortunately my life has changed drastically.... My fiancée, the love of my life has left me. It was very difficult to cope with it, add to it dealing with kids and not amazing money situation.... and you don't have much will power, nor do you want to write or study.

 But I am back... Recharged.... A little bit happier :)

Going to write about our last TMA and the next steps :)
xo xo

How to find your OUSA Wales forum?

Senate Reference Group meeting in Milton Keynes - Part 2

Phew !!!!!

It was very busy few days! Although I can not express how glad I am that I was part of the S R G meeting! Guys seriously it was amazing!!

Of course I wouldn't be able to help myself and not to take a picture on the train..... :D

And another one in my hotel room 

 As you can see I could finally ( first time in my life) take a mirror selfie!!!! My life is now complete.  I can not do it at home, because first of all I don't have a mirror which would be big enough and second of all I would probably not be thinking about cleaning it properly so I would have picture full of smudges and of course I would have a huge pile of my clothes behind me. So I thought to myself : I want to feel like a star, once in my life and I will take this picture.... :D  

At the actual day I had a quick tour around the campus and I couldn't believe how big our campus in Milton Keynes is. It is huuuggggeeeee!!!

I've took few pictures of some places :

That's Jennie Lee building

 On our way to the library.

 Berrill

Useful map :D

 Trees there were huge!

 O U Library.... I did not wanted to leave.... Can't help it, I just love books!

 Entrance to the library with Sue.















Excuse all of those selfies I am a very self-centre person :D


















Walton Hall with Sue posing :)
You can find some information about it here











 Our campus also have art work placed all over the place there are my few favourites:

Bounding Bull ( Dominic Benhura)

Viper Sniper (D. Benhura)

We walk our own path (Richard Harris)

A Kind of Infinity (Ray Castell)

Contemplation (Tom Harvey)

And the one that is close to my heart: Learning Together (Ray Castell) 

 This sculpture was commissioned by O U to celebrate 40 years of providing open and equal education opportunities to thousands of people. It has two androgynous people with their heads inclined towards each other. They could be anybody, any colour, any ability....

 If you would like to find out more about the O U art, please go here

 I've meet a lot of really kind and welcoming people there. This trip was worth to wait for, now I can't wait for the conference. ( Have you seen the conference programme? No? Try here)

 After my tour me and Sue had a pleasure to be at The O U presentation called : Learning now, for the future.

 Where we were informed about the progress of the O U.  With what students are happy with, what kind of complaints they are. There was a quick chat about competition that students were taking part in. If I recall correctly it was about :  Imagining how the future (O U) will be like. You can find the results, poems, logos etcetera on the forum.
 
We could see the main challenges acknowledged by O U.  Main principles and the most important a plan of action.

Then, me and Sue went for the S R G meeting, unfortunately I can not tell you what was happening there, as it is confidential and I might be destroyed if I say something hahah

 But what I can tell you is that O U and Senate are making sure that every issue is acknowledge and they are doing an amazing job at trying to help and improve our experiences.  And guys believe me it is not an easy job. Just for the meeting every member of the Senate has received 25 different documents and some of them were 20 pages long!  They all had to read it, make sure that we as students will benefit from it and raise any issues if they did not agree with some parts. How amazing is that? That we have someone to take care of us, and they offer their free time, on the top of their courses!

If you want to find out more about O U S A go here  


That's it for today because I am dropping I had a very busy day today and tomorrow is my only day of. On Saturday I am going to be attending a Consultation meeting in Cardiff . Where 20 students from Wales will be able to discuss matters concerning OU students in Wales.


At the end I just wanted to say, that if any of you  have something that you would like to discus with me you can contact me either trough the 'Contact me' form on the blog ( Top right corner) or you can drop me an email at :  bg3344@my.open.ac.uk

Senate Reference Group meeting in Milton Keynes

 What a journey!

I am sitting in a hotel room absolutely exhausted but so happy!

 I was invited by Sue ( SAR the Students Association Representative for Wales (ousa-sar-wales@open.ac.uk) ) to join Senate Reference Group meeting in Milton Keynes. When Sue messaged me few days ago asking if I would be able to attend, I wasn't really sure if SRG meeting is a place for me.
 Yes, I want to be involved with OU as much as possible, but this felt a little bit like jumping to the deep end of the pool without the ability to swim.... Which in my example is absolutely accurate as I CAN'T swim... :D

 I was supposed to meet Sue on the train, half way through... When I was reserving my tickets I was not aware that all of them will be reserved in a 'quiet wagon'.... Just for the future references.... Please do not book your tickets with such a seat!!!  Me and Sue said hello to each other, as you would do when you are meeting a new person and an old gentlemen told us of!!! I mean, really... I've felt like a teenager. We weren't loud, we just simply said hello. :D If that wouldn't be enough, after starting to whisper to each other about important OU staff a lady in from of us started to basically bully us, trying to keep us silence!  Of course a loud noise made by her lunch box was acceptable :D I do not know how did we manage not to say : We thought is a 'quiet wagon' :D  I was told by her that even if my seat is reserved I should go somewhere else. :D How mean can you get ? Luckily for us we had only 5 minutes left and we were free. I don't think I have to add that after that experience we were giggling about it till the end of our journey, because EVERY seat I've reserved in each of the trains was in a 'quiet wagon'!!! If I know my luck, tomorrow all my seats will be in the exact wagon!

  I've meet today a few members of Central Executive Community ( CEC) and I have to say they were lovely! Made me feel welcome and comfortable. I am really happy that I've decided to come. And Sue took me straight under her wings and took me through the whole experience step by step. Plus she is so nice and easy to talk to I wasn't able to keep quiet around her ( That's probably why we was told of  hahah ) .

 I will write an update of the actual meeting which is happening tomorrow morning, I was made aware that I can't repeat certain details, but I will share with you what I can. But for now I will have to go hit my pillow, because I am one, very tired girl....

TMA_05 - Report writing

 I know that we just only had our due date for the TMA-04 but I thought that I will try to came up with few reminders on how to write a report. Maybe it will be also useful for you guys, I know that if  I write it down it will make it easier for me to remember :)

 But first things first... I had an amazing news today! As you all know there was Assembly Bye-Elections in Wales... And I have an unbelievable pleasure to announce that I have been elected to the Assembly!!!! You al can just imagine how excited I am, so many good things is happening to me right now! I feel truly blessed :)

 Let's talk about the report now.  So what is the difference between an essay and a report? 

 As you all know in an essay we have to present convincing argument, not only that but also all of that must be done in a logical sequence. So we have our introduction, main body and conclusion. All of that has to be linked together. So each paragraph must be finishing in the way , that you can carry on in the next. I am sure that you all know this by now, but I like to write everything from A to B ;)  There are four types of report :  information or description reports, reports of investigations or studies, maths reports and science reports.

 Now report is ( in my opinion) a little bit easier.  Report has a completely different purpose and structure.

If you would look at it and try to simplify, I would say : Report is written for busy people, to help them find specific information quickly and without a hassle.  Report is providing informations instead of presenting argument like it was done in the essay.

Report:

• Is using headings and subheadings
• Sections are numbered or lettered (2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 or A: a, b, c,)
• You can use short statements and bullet points ( do you see what I have done here :D ? ) 
• You can use graphs and tables

 Structure of the report

( Now please keep in mind that this is only a guideline and OU might want different things, so before using anything from here, please talk to your tutor, check your assignment booklet and LC for advice :) ) 

Title page

Describes the purpose of the report. It should have your Name, Date, For who the report is written. 

Terms of references

Explaining who will read the report, purpose and how the report was written ( method) 

Abstract

Short paragraph describing content of the report, its aims, what was found and ( if any) what is called for.  Make sure that you are avoiding writing a conclusion and you are just outlining the main points.

Introduction

 Detailed description of aims and objectives. If there are problems that report is looking at , they should be identified. You are adding here any historical background.

Methods ( make sure that you will use separate headings here!)

 You are going to explain here followed procedures, you are going to use relevant information and materials ( sources). And you will refer here to any problems 

Results ( Again, separate headings)

 You can use here diagrams and graphs to present data. Remember to use logical order , but avoid commenting!

Discussion

That's your main body. Here you will discuss your material. You will analyse and discussed  your facts & evidence with specific references to the problem. You might want to consider dividing your discussion into sections ( if it's lengthy). Points should be grouped and arranged in logical and easy to follow order. Headings and subheadings should be considered. Same with bullet points. Everything used in your report should be acknowledged and referenced. 

Conclusion

Remind most important points, highlight, most central issues and findings of the report. Like with an essay avoid adding new points! 

Appendices

    You are going to include all of the supporting information here. 

Bibliography

 Like with an essay, alphabetical order. 

Before you start your report, you must decide what kind of report you have to write. Remember to use ACADEMIC LANGUAGE !  You can find some help with that in LC3, Appendix 2 p. 51.

Also you might want go to to OU website : http://www2.open.ac.uk/students/skillsforstudy/reports.php

Another useful one is : http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.02%20Reports.htm

and : http://www.port.ac.uk/media/contacts-and-departments/student-support-services/ask/downloads/Reports-and-essays---key-differences.pdf

OU Student Newsletter

You can find it here : http://www.open.ac.uk/ousa/sites/www.open.ac.uk.ousa/files/files/OUstudents_Summer_2014.pdf

On pg 5 is a little bit about my blog ( which I am extremely excited about! )

 Did you knew that there are still places for the OU conference??? So if you feel like you would like to join us please go and register yourself!!

Don’t say we didn’t tell you...

There are still a few places left at the greatly awaited OU Students Association Conference taking place on the Campus in Milton Keynes and online from 27 – 29 June.
The Conference starts at 2pm on Friday until after lunch on Sunday. All accommodation and catering costs are included (except your bar bill) together with reasonable travel expenses. (...)
Around 400 students are expected on campus over the weekend with a similar number taking part online and there is still a chance you could be one of them.

Please don’t miss out. Express your interest by registering now.

http://www.open.ac.uk/ousa/conference/2014
All places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

For any enquiries about Conference, please contact ousa@open.ac.uk

See you there!
Your OU Students Association

What are you waiting for guys? :) 

So much to do, so little time!

 I have been very busy for the past few weeks, I am trying to juggle studying with the rest of my responsibilities, but it is not easy. Specially now, when my depression had came back. And it cam with a bang! I wasn't expecting it, but I presume you never are.... How can you be prepare for it? When you life is good you don't expect to feel like that!

 I am suffering with it for so many years now, I know all the 'tricks', I know what I should do, still it is hard. I am really trying.
There is so many positive things happening in my life. I would like to mention that my place at the  OU Students Association Conference 2014 is secured now, my tickets are booked and you will be able to meet me there!!! ( If you are going of course). That's something worth getting excited about right?  I would love to know how many of you is going!! It is happening only every two years and I just can't wait!!  So if you are going , please give me a shout :) 

  TMA 3 has knock me down a little bit. I can't help but feeling lost when I work with numbers! I hope you all had a better experience with it than me.   TMA 4... Makes me feel like : 
- Now, you are talking!!!! 

I just love comparing theories. I don't know why... Before you say anything... Yes, I am one of those sad girls who love to study :D 

I have to say that the nice thing about studying with The OU is that they help you so much! I mean, if you are going to look at the Assignment Booklet, they are practically giving you the whole structure of your essay.  And majority of the answers. 

MY volunteer work with OU is very rewording, I've managed to help to sign for a degree 14 people since I've started. I can believe that I have the opportunity to possibly help someone to fulfil their dreams, do something they never thought they can do.  It makes me feel all warm and fluffy inside. 

 I come across as heartless and cold person. I say what I think without even one thought about : 
- How someone will react/feel after listening to me. 
But the real truth is : I am big softy. I cry on Bambi, I spend majority of my time thinking how can I help people, I would give my last pound to someone in need. I am spending 80% of my time listening to people, solving their problems and it makes me feel good. 
Like I've mentioned before the place I live in, doesn't have many opportunities, not only for young people but for anyone. 
I had very emotional moment last week, when one person has received confirmation that her place on the course was secured. She gave me such a huge hug, it was hard to breath :) 

I am not sure if I would feel that good in a brick uni.... It is also my small therapy...  I would like to encourage everyone to get involve with this project. Who knows? Maybe it will make you feel the same as it makes me? :)

Me and my community aka FAST UK programme....

 Studying Psychology is one thing, putting in into our lives and being able to use within your community to help people- is another.... 

 I have spent last two days training with a charity called Save the Children which is delivering with Middlesex University London programme called FAST ( Families & Schools TOGETHER) for primary. 

 The first five minutes of my training made me think : 
- Wow! This really make sense! 

 I will not throw all of the details at you right now, but there was a lot of talk about Pruning Neurons , Immune system, cortisol, DHEA, Serotonin, Dopamine, researches done by Salvador Minuchin, Paulo Freire, Urie Bronfenbrenner. There was also attachment theory involved and all of that was researched, adapted and  put together, to help families. Isn't that amazing?  
It is making me feel good about myself.   Not only I get to help peopel, which was the whole reason behind studying Psychology! But, I can also adapt this programme within my family, to improve our life!!! 

It was two very long days, but I can say with a hand on my heart : It was worth it. 

This training was only the first step, now our FAST TEAM will have very busy two weeks, preparing letters, flyers, sending text to parents, trying to recruit 40 families. 

After that we will have 8 weeks, ending with ( hopefully) huge success!!! 

FAST was developed in 1988 by Dr. Lynn McDonald, Family Service, Madison, Wisconsin and enhanced with Ms. Estella Payton in 1989. 

                                                             

                                                             What is FAST all about??? 

There are three types of partners: 

School Partner - obviously person who works in school 

Parent Partner - one of the parents who has a child in a FAST school 

Community Partner ( like me) - person within community who wants to be involved. Mainly                                                         there were people from council, Plant Dewi Parenting, police.                                                         I had a privileged to be a community Partner, because I am                                                           studying Psychology and my my boss is organising FAST in                                                           our primary school! Again, how lucky am I?! 


                                                         Goals of FAST for Primary: 

Intermediate Goals : 


Goals that increase protective factors:
1. Parent Strength

•  Feels respected
• feels empowered
• feels supported
• feels more confident

2. Parent Involvement 

with Child ( Special Play) 

with Intimate Support ( Buddy Time) 

with other Parents ( Self-Help Group and FASTWORKS)

with Schools

with Community Activities & Resources 

Goals that reduce risk factors: 

3. Reduces Stresses f Daily Living

4. Reduces Substance Abuse in Child and Family

5. Reduces Chronic Family Conflict

                         

Ultimate goal: Better Child Outcomes in Home, School, Community: 

Child doing better at home

Child higher self-esteem

Child doing better in school

Child More positive about school

Child better relationship with parent 

Whoever thinks it's amazing, please put your hand up!  For all of those who would like to know more you can go to : www.familiesandschoolstogether.com

I can not express how excited I am! 

  I just wanted to thank everyone for your emails! It is making me feel so good, when I am coming home and there is inbox full of positive thoughts, comments and questions! It is making me feel really good, knowing that I am helping some of you, that you find my blog useful or funny and you all are so welcoming!!!  I will try to answer to all of your emails as soon as possible, so please bare with me! As you can see I am very busy doing as much as I can with different programs, so sometimes I am coming home and literally falling asleep on the sofa after quick dinner. Bless my partner he doesn't have a heart to wake me up, because he knows that I will not be able to go back to sleep, so he is carrying me upstairs nearly every night!!!  I don't think I would be able to do half as much, regarding my degree without his support! I know that he can't read this but I still want to say it : Thank you hun! Love you loads really, even when I am cranky... :) 

How it is like to study with The Open University?

Hi guys!!!

I really hope that you all are enjoying your time with OU? I have to say after only three months I love it! 

 I am actually feeling like I am part of something, and I did not have that feeling with my previous uni!

So as you all know I am volunteering with OUSV. My 'job' description is basically go and talk to people about my experience with OU and give them information about courses and possibilities.  And I just love the 'goodies' that they've provided me with :

 This is exactly what 'my' community needs. Being aware of opportunities. Nine times out of ten, when I am approaching new person they are telling me that they will not be able to get funding's, because this is what they have heard! The other concern is : I do not have time to go to meetings. 

So I just wanted to drop a quick post about common questions and give you guys some links, who know maybe one of your family members would like to study, but they don't know where to start? You can just send them link to this blog and from here they can take it further? 

So how do you study with OU? 

 My answers are based ONLY on my experience. 

The Open University   gives you the opportunity to study flexibly, in your own time.  I am doing all of my work in my own time, my own speed. It is as simple as reading materials, which are sent to your own house and completing TMA's. 

It doesn't mean that you will not have any help! They are on-line tutorials,  which looks basically like chat rooms,  there are OU forums and face to face tutorials with your tutor. You can choose which one of them is best for you, or if they are going to be beneficial for you. Apart from that you can always drop an e-mail to your tutor or call him/her. 

What about paying for your course? 

Well, there is few ways to do it. You might be able for a financial support.  If your household income is less than £28.180 

You can pay as you go. The payments are taken by direct debit. 

You might be eligible for Employer sponsorship. 

Or you can pay upfront. 

If you would like to find out more call : 08453006090 

or you can go to www.openuniversity.co.uk/ways2paywales

How long does the study takes? 

It depends on what kind of course you choose and which pathway. You can change your pathways with time.

 If you would like to study 60 credits per year ( part time), which would be studying only one module, for degree with hons it would take you 6 years, degree without hons 5 years, Diploma of higher education 4 years and certificate of higher education only 2 years. 

If you would like to go full time 

Degree with hons - 3 years

Degree without hons - 2,5 years

Diploma of Higher education - 2 years

Certificate of higher education - 1 year. 

Plus after your undergraduate study you can take it further and do postgraduate studies with OU! ( for more information go to www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate) 

The most important part of my degree is the help and understanding of mine conditions. I have such an amazing support from OU. I don't feel uncomfortable to talk with them about my conditions, when I feel like I need any extra help I know, they will try their best to provide it for me. It was such a relief that I could achieve something, do my degree in a comfort of my own house, get involved with The Open University in many ways and feel happy about the whole experience !

So if you are not sure if OU is for you, why don't you try to explore it without enrolling yourself? Open university is providing FREE online learning. Which is called Open Learn.  

Open Leanr can help you prepare yourself for a course, you can discover there very interesting articles and you can join debates.  

To try it, go to www.open.edu/openlearn

You can also go to www.open.ac.uk/itunes where you can download free educational content. 

And last but not least www.open.ac.uk/youtube where you can access OU channel.  

I will post all those link on the top of my blog, so don't worry they will be available so no one will have to scan through the whole blog to find them. 

If you have any questions about stuff I haven't raised in this post you can go straight to Student Support Team.  I will post all the numbers underneath, or if you don't feel confident enough to talk to them, you can e-mail me on cosma69@gmail.com and I will try either find answers for you or pass it further :) 

In England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Island, The Isle of Man and BFPO addresses outside UK 

www.openuniversity.co.uk/ug

Call Student Registration & Enquiry Service +44 (0) 845 300 60 90

e-mail them through www.openuniversity.co.uk/contact

In Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland 

www.onepnuniversity.co.uk/ug

In North Ireland  028 9032 3722

In the Republic of Ireland ( Dublin) (01)6785399 ( Belfast) +44 28 9032 3722

All other countries

www.openuniversity.edu

+44 (0)845 241 6555

For Welsh Speakers ( I siaradwyr Cymraeg)

The Open University in Wales

18 Custom House Street

Cardiff CF10 1AP 

029 2047 1170

e-mail (ebost): wales@open.ac.uk

News update!

 First of all I would like to apologise to everyone who is my regular reader for my absence!   I really wanted to drop at least few words but I really couldn't. I was very ill, and I've spend most of my days in bed, not only neglecting my work, hobby and blogs but also my family, friends and uni work! It is so hard sometimes knowing that you have so much to do but the pain is stopping you every time you try.

 Few updates and news.
  I know I've started my blog with weekly follow ups on the work list, which you can find in Learning Companions, I will still try to do that. I am not sure what I will do about post about TMA's, we all are far into the course by now and I don't see much point to remind us basic informations on how to write an essay.  I am sure that we all are able to follow our tutors feedback. What I might do instead is a list on one of the sides of my blogs, with the list of post with the basics. I might find some more useful informations as we go and post them or even put some of the tips from my tutor feedback.

If any of you, would like to read about anything specific plsea drop me an email, or message on facebook.  If you disagree with me, or have more informations, which are up to date, please contact me as well. The last thing I want to do is to share wrong informations and give bad advice. If you message me at least I will be able to change it. I hope that all of you know that I am only human and I make mistakes ;)


 I am now officially involved in the  North and Mid Wales OUSV project , I am waiting for all my materials and as soon as I will get to know all the ins and outs I will do a post about.

That's not all!

 I am also having a pleasure of being a student reps with BPS !!!!! I was so happy when I have received an email informing me about it.

And the best news I had...  I was offered to write an article for the OUSV Newsletter, which is due out next month!

It is pointless to say how much I love writing! But I would never imagine that I would EVER be able to have the opportunity to write so well in English and be bale to be involved in so many amazing things.

Which just proves me that choosing The Open University as a uni to do my degree with, was one of the most important and right choices I have ever made!


 I will still give a 100% on my blog write useful tips and try to share with you all of my experiences :)

Oh! If you have a blog about how it's like to be a student yourself, drop a link to it in comments. I would love to know how everyone else is getting on with OU!

That's all for today, I hope everyone had a good time with TMA 2 ( will post about it tomorrow ) and you all are getting started with the TMA 3 :)

The moment of terror - aka - The Open University is commenting under one of my posts.....lol

 You can imagine how was I surprises after seeing a comment from a person from The OU, under my last post... Asking me to e-mail them.... I was starring at the computer screen thinking :
- What have you done this time you Muppet!!!

 I've opened my e-mail, out of this whole stress instead of writing :
Question about the blog.
I've put : Question about the big....

I've send an e-mail saying, that I will be more than happy to answer any questions. I've clicked send...
The waiting game began.... I will not tell you how many times I've run to Matt saying :

- I am so silly! I bet that I've done something! Do you think they are going to kick me out of the course? Can they kick me out? Maybe they will just give me a warning? OMG what I am going to do!!! Maaaatttt!!!

It was the longest half an hour in my life.... MY laptop made a noise, informing me about incoming e-mail. I've opened it with shaking hands....Praying :
- Please don't kick me.... Please....

I've began to read it and started to laugh so loud that my dog walked away from me giving me the 'you are crazy woman' look....

The Open University didn't want to kick me. I was asked to write about their new international website for students outside of the UK and Ireland.

I can be so silly sometimes!!!! But for my defence so many people were telling me about not breaking any OU rules, that I wasn't sure if I did something or not! :D 

 I went to see the new website, planning to compare it with the original OU page. 

I was very positively surprise, website has nice layout, almost everything is clearly displayed.  You have all the numbers on the top of the page, there is an option to ask a question, order a brochure or a call back. 

You can select a country , and when you go to online courses it is showing you automatically the courses available there. 

The website is much easier to navigate around than the uk version. Which is very important for people who have English as a second, third or forth language ! 

So if you are international student you can go to http://www.openuniversity.edu/ 

Share it with your friends, maybe they want to study and they are not aware of the amount of opportunities The Open University is giving us? C'mmon, you know you want to share it on your facebook, twitter, google+ and any other social page you have :) 

I am posting a link to it on the top of my blog, and if your friends are not sure, send them to read my blog. I am more than happy to answer any questions about Open University and my experience with it. 

How to help yourself to keep focus, whilst you are studying.

 It's 04:50 am, I am trying to fall asleep since 9pm last night... I've finally gave up with the idea of sleep today. I shouldn't really spent 3h making pancakes and other goodies yesterday, I knew that I will pay for standing  next to the cooker for so long....
Oh well, at least you all can benefit from my conditions. ;)

 I've decided to write a post about focusing whilst you studying.
As you probably see by now, practically all of my post are aimed to help you guys. I am a part of lots of forums and groups. Usually I am only observing people, noticing questions and try to help. Some of you might call it : 'not having a life' :D

 Recently I've received quiet a few, really nice private messages on facebook. It was very overwhelming! Some people   said that I've inspired them, others mentioned that I've encourage them to start their own blogs and other that they feel like thanks to some of the tips I am posting they are achieving more from theirs studies and the whole experience is much more pleasant for them. I feel amazing! I am doing something which my conditions can't take away from me.
 Between me and you ,all those messages has inspired and encouraged me :
Not to give up.
 I had a really difficult week last week, and I am not one of those people who moan often, I am always trying to stay positive.  Unfortunately, I've observed that my conditions and pain are beginning to make me bitter and jealous! I am jealous that others are healthy and I am not. That they can carry on with their life and I am stuck.... I am bitter, every subject I am talking about is somehow ending on talking about my conditions. It is like they rule my life.
So today I am saying : ENOUGH.
 I am myself, I am the old , positive and happy Barb. The only difference is I have to cope a little bit more than others, but I can do that! I will not be bitter! I am refusing to change, just because that's how this usually works. You are ending up ill - you feel sorry for yourself and you're blaming everyone.

 I just wanted to say :  THANK YOU for your messages! I am great full because every single inbox has helped me in a ways that none of my medications, in the past 4 years did.  

 Not to talk ( again!) about my illnesses :) I've read few questions on how to study, keep focus, especially when the particular topic of your studies is simply boring.
Now those rules are working for me, but I am not a scientist, doctor nor any other expert so please do not expect a golden rule or a solution :) It might work for you but it might not.

RULES : 

1. Find a comfortable place to study 
   I don't mean bed! lol Seriously it is important for you to feel relax and comfy. Some of you will study for hours and there is nothing worse than fighting a muscle pain, because you are sitting in a very bad position.
So: comfy chair, table with the right hight, good lighting.

2. Snack
 And I don;t mean coffee or crisps and chocolate bars!!! Empty calories with no benefits to your body! I am not a health freak, but I do grab an apple or banana when I am studying and drink water. I will not even try to write about it for more informations go here.

3. Materials
 Have everything clearly displayed, there is nothing worse than starting on your first assignment and had to look for an important note or book! So keep everything organised, and next to you whilst studying.

4. Breaks
 When I was 16 I use to be bale to study for 8 hours straight, without any complications and materials would go straight to my head... I am not 16 any more, and I am ill. So for every 45-50 have a 10 minutes break. Do something else. Just make sure that the breaks are not longer than 20 minutes, your brain will go to off mode and it will be very difficult to concentrate.

5. Switch off everything which might take your attention!
 Yes, I mean your phone, telly, computer, even radio because they might start talking about something interesting!

6. Music 
 Listen to some calm music. My favourites you can find on youtube. When I am studying I am listening to the instrumental, relaxing music. One of them you can find here. It might not work for you, you might work better listening to Madonna or K.Perry. The key is : whatever works for you best.

7. Create your study goals. Motivate yourself.
 For example : Today I will read 25 pages. And If I do, I will watch a 'True Blood' marathon tonight. That would be a short goal. Now to the long : I want to have a second Pass in this module. If I do I will go for away for a weekend.

8. Time to study. 
 Find what time a day you preform the best. It is up to your persona and you don't have a set examples. Some people study best on the mornings, some afternoons. The bottom line is : find it and do it.

9. Positive attitude 
 Please! Don't sit to your books with : I hate the world, I hate that module and I hate that school- attitude.You will only get more and more upset and none of the informations will get in.

10. Start from the least pleasant subject. 
  You will not get dishearten when you can manage to do the hardest bit and all you have left is easy and fun task.


I hope those few rules will be helpful for some of you. If you want me to write more informations or talk about particular subject, you can all message me and I will try my best to do it. And I am really sorry if I am not answering your messages straight away, sometimes is hard in my house to get five minutes to yourself and be able to use computer :)

TMA 01 - marked

 I think many of us was very inpatients, curious and a little bit scared in the past few days... Of course... Our first assignments were due to be marked.

  I was one of THOSE people who were refreshing theirs OU website very 20 minutes on the 25th of Feb, hoping that her mark will be there. I wasn't aware, that our tutor has 10 days to mark it, plus all those posts on my facebook, people saying : Oh, I had my TMA marked! - wasn't helping. 

So what did I do?  ( if you are reading it : Please, DO NOT DO IT AT HOME, as it is not safe! :D ) 

I have e-mailed my tutor.... Basically saying : 

- oi! where is my mark ! 

 Of course, I've written it in more polite way, but the principle of the message were the same. I WANT my mark! Guys... Don't do that.... EVER.... I am sure I was marked down 5% because of that :D ( that was a joke! ) .

 I had e-mail back of my tutor explaining that they have 10 days to do it, and she usually waits but she will mark it today for me........ Yes, cold sweats, hearts palpitations and a word : f***! came out of my mouth very loudly. 

Very quickly I have send her a message back, apologising and explaining my rudeness! I was telling her about my lack of knowledge about those 10 days, and I was making sure that she will know, that I will not do it next time... Still.... those bloody 5 %.... I am almost sure... Just can't prove it...lol   

 Now seriously, between me and you guys : I have a lovely tutor. 

 I am always looking at this the way I am looking at any kind of relationship : 

- It will take time to get to know each other, to be able to know what the other person wants from us. 

This is so important to remember, especially when it comes to a relationship you have with  your teacher. Doesn't really matter ig you are a student, in primary school or on your A lvls. If you don't know your teacher, you don't know what they are looking for in your work. And this can never work. 

 So back to my mark. After an hour, I had an e-mail from The OU, saying : 

- Your TMA was marked.

tam, tam, taaaaaaammmmmmm ( very dramatic music). 

I've logged into my account and there it was, staring at me, smiling and almost saying : 

 Hello, is it me you're looking for????   'Cause I wonder where you areAnd I wonder what you do...

( as my favourite youtuber says : 'whatsupp lyrics references!!!' I am so cool sometimes I could die! lol )

 Now,  I've read a lot of comments about, how students feel; about their marks and tutor. I was involved in lots of discussions, debates.  So hold on for a sec, bear with me and try to follow as it might confused you.

 I will not tell you what mark I had, not because I am ashamed of it , I just don't feel that it is my place to post it. There might be some people who have lover mark and feel uncomfortable about me, moaning about my score.
So lets just say my mark was XY%

 I passed.

And I can't help myself but think :
 I am NOT happy with my mark!

I was aiming for a higher mark that I had. I am not going to lie to you, I was bloody disappointed...

 I thought to myself if I can't achieve A on this essay, the easiest one, first one. How the hell am I going to do it with the hardest one?

 Few thing you need to know about me  : I am a planner and I have to feel in control, I am also very ambitious.

That was what use to keep me sane. I was an A* student, I had scholarships and that was one of the things which was keeping me safe. For those who read my personal post, you all are a little bit aware of my life, for those who haven't you can find it here. Throughout my childhood I was proving myself that despite what my mother says, I am good at something.


 'Thanks' to that I ended up being a control freak lol It is helpful from time to time, for example I came to this country knowing only three sentences :
- Sorry, I can't speak English.
- F*** off
and :
- Don't touch me like that!
:D
  Yes... I know.... I use to walk around with a pen, notebook and a dictionary. If I couldn't explain something, I was simply drawing it.  I remember my first phone call to job centre, I had to apply for my NIN, I was sitting in my kitchen with a dictionary, laptop ( google translator) and I was arguing with  a lad on the phone that I do not need a translator, and it is his damn job to talk to me in my own speed and bear with me. I've told him that if he can't do his job properly he can put me through to someone who can.
We've talked for over three hours.... But! I did it. I've managed to tell him exactly what I needed, without having to talk to someone who would translate it for me. I was very proud that day.  I wanted to learn to speak. I mean, I LOVE to speak! Living in a different country and not being able to understand 'local people' would kill me! lol
 I don't understand foreigners who live here for 5 to 10 years and they can't speak.  I feel ashamed when I am meeting a Polish person, they live here, but they ask me to translate for them.  I did, at the beginning, but then I've realised something: You, Brits are lovely people. If you could, you would give your heart away, but sometimes you are too nice! Because you are making it so easy for others, making them feel welcome and doing the 'job' for them, you are enabling them to bloody learn.  To whichever office I went, they were passing me a piece of paper with translated question, they've need to ask me. What was their surprise, when I was pushing it away saying : Thank you, but I am fully capable of speaking to you in your language. I am in this country five years now, and people who just meet me are still surprise that my English is SOOOO good. No, it is not. You are not praising yourself for being able to speak, don't praise us. ;)
 English is so hard to learn, that's true. It is like you just love making your life difficult for yourself :D But it is not impossible to learn. ;)


So, back to my original point when I saw my mark I burst into tears, run to Matt ( my partner) and said to him :
- I shouldn't study, I am just to stupid!

 He read my feedback, saw my mark, shook his head and said :
- You're one, crazy lady/
lol Yes, I love him too.... I needed that, to be honest I felt sorry for myself for two days about that mark. I was going over my assignment, reading it, analysing it and saying to myself :
Why the hell I haven't had an A?!!!

I wasn't blaming my tutor.  How could I ? It was me, who was writing it, not her. She just has that unpleasant job where she has to mark me.
  Like I've mentioned before : I've read loads of things about it. People were upset with their tutor, because they were marked down. The were upset with other students because they were having higher score than them, but they were still unhappy about it.

The thing is it doesn't really matter if you have 38% or 75% - You are allowed to be unhappy with it, because each one of us has different ambitious, plans. Someone can score a B, but they wanted to have an A. You had a C and can't stand that someone is moaning about B? You would kill for a B? They should be lucky?
No. This is not how life works. So what that you would love to have B? Maybe, just maybe they want to have the best score because in their head that's what they can do.
I use to hate when someone was saying to me :
- Oh, you know you should be happy with your mark, I had only 'bla bla bla'.
I don't care what you had! It doesn't make me feel better. I want a bloody A!

And again, if you are happy with your 38%, because you were sure you will fail big time - good for you!!!

I guess what I am trying to say is ;
Don't go to hard on other people, don't blame anyone about your first score.

No one can help you with it, and your mark is equivalent to your knowledge, maybe next time you can work a little bit harder on your essay structure, or understanding the question.
 That's why we have a feedback from our tutors, to learn, to get better.

 Doesn't really matter if you are jealous, or you think your tutor marked you unfairly.

I've spoke yesterday to one of my 'module' friends, we both were unhappy with our marks, and help each other to go through the 'FIRST MARK'.
 We felt sorry for ourselves, we've support each other.  ( Thanks B ;) )

I think it is really important to take your first mark easy. On the end of the day, some of you haven't done any uni writing in few years. Personally I was studying with a brick uni last year, but I didn't knew what OU is expecting from me.
 Most important : talk to your tutor. The are the one who can help you improve your work, help you understand.

 From here we can finally start. We have our first feedback, we can learn from it, we know what to look for in our next assignment. Plus by now I am sure every one of us has made at least one uni friend, so we can have someone to rant to. :)

I hope that all of your marks, are a starting point for you, and I am sure you've all done the best job you could at the time, and now you can only get better.
And if you are absolutely happy with your mark : Well done!!!!!!! High five!!! :)

Sorry if today post was a little bit chaotic, I have teeth infection since Friday, I have flu since yesterday, I had a phone call from my Gp saying that on the top of Ankylosing Spondylitis and Fibromyalgia I have Restless Legs Syndrome ( another non-curable condition) and I have phoned my mother, which never makes me feel good, yesterday I've overdone with my painkillers, so I had a 'date with my toilet' - basically I've spend most of my night with my head in it. My poor dog was shaking and freaking out, not knowing what the heck is wrong with me. He have spent the whole time with his head on my knees, he would leave my site. Matt was out so I had to call him and ask him to come home, which always makes me feel rubbish ( I hate that I am the reason that he can't have an evening out, without worrying sick about me)...So as you can see I have a lot on my plate right now... I am hoping to feel better soon thou :) I so don't like to giving up....

Online tutorials

 Quick post about  online tutorials.

 I know that many of us, who haven't attend online tutorials, are a little bit unsure, maybe even scared to attend them.
 I was not comfortable with joining online 'lessons' myself.  That's why I've decided to write this post.

 Last Wednesday I had my first online tutorial and I wanted to share with all of you how did it go.
First of all, all that fear was unnecessary! You don't have to talk to your microphone, you can just type like in a chat box on fb. Which was much easier for me, than going and speaking.  I am sure that speaking on those tutorials will came easier as time goes on.

I think the best thing was the possibility to do other things, whilst attending my class. I was watching my program, crocheting and doing my coursework.   In my own bed, I was relaxed and comfy.

 The one thing I want to mention is. The tutorial was basically a little bit of repeat of my first face to face tutorial. So is worth to consider, if attending it is necessary for you.

I hope that all of you are enjoying your course so far. :)

TMA 01 (cut-off date: 24 February 2014)

 Word limit : 750
Font size : 12
Space between lines : Double ( I couldn't find it in my assignment booklet, so I've asked other students)
Worth : 5% of your total mark.


 So here we are :) I couldn't wait any longer so after my first tutorial and few corrections, I've submitted my first TMA yesterday. I am not sure if I feel stressed or more excited at the minute.

 Just wanted to do a quick check list for all of us, if you haven't submitted your TMA yet, it might be useful.

BEFORE USING ANY OF MY TIPS, PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR TUTOR FIRST!

Different tutors might have different expectations and I don't want to give anyone wrong informations!
All things I am writing about were checked with MY tutor.

 Ok, lets start our check list :

• Go back to the activity in LC1 pg.26. Think if there is anything else you could add to your essay
• Make sure that you do not go over your 10% + or - of your word count.
• Your name, personal identifier, TMA question and references on the end of your work, do not count into the word limit
• References used inside your assignment do count
• Make sure you've written your self reflection
• Make sure that you are COMPEERING your street to the City Road
• If you struggle with your references, go to your assignment booklet pg. 14-15. Basically all you have to do is copy the one from there. 
• Do not submit your self reflection as a separate document! Just put it on another (new) page of your assignment. 
• Put your word count at the end of your TMA
• proof read your assignment before sending it- I've made a few silly mistakes and I am glad that I've checked it before I've send it. 
• If you have used any websites to get information about your street : reference it on a separate page as a  Secondary references 
• Make sure that you have 3-4 examples of benefits or loses. 
• Do not introduce any new ideas in your conclusion! 

 Please don't stress nor doubt in yourself. We all spend lots of time, put lots of effort into our assignments and I am sure we will all do great.  After all this assignment is to help us, getting use to the whole TMA writing and I am sure that our tutors will not be to harsh on us, they will leave constructive feedback, and we will be able to learn from it.
If you've done everything on the check list, don't sit there and think :
- Should I submit my TMA?

Just do it! If you are going to think about, you will start doing corrections, by doing this you might destroy good piece of work, for a sake of doubting in yourself. If you haven't came up with any new ideas by now, there is no point trying go think about them.;

I wish you all first pass :)

My first tutorial.

 I had my first tutorial yesterday. We had a decent number of people there, which was brilliant. I even had one of my friends there! Which was a huge relieve and a surprise. I was aware that she is doing this module, but I thought she will have her tutorials somewhere else.

 My tutor seams nice, I would say she is a little bit shy and it appears ( for me) that she was as nervous as we :D It will sounds cheese, but I really liked her accent. I ended up trying to work out, where is she originally from. :D

 Activities we were given, were basically the one for LC1. Which was nice, because i could use my notes.

 I was a little bit worried, because I am not British and last time I was doing a course with one of the local universities , my nationality was brought up every five minutes. it made me feel a little bit like they were trying to say :
- You shouldn't have opinion about this topic, you are not British, so what can you now.

 Which of course was provoking me to be very defensive, because I am living in this country, I was working when my health wasn't as bad as it is now, I was paying taxes, all my friends are British, including my fiancée. My kids are going to school here and I am planning to stay here for the rest of my days and I do have a right to express my opinion about politics, benefits and everything else.

 To be honest I have big mouth, without being provoked and it is difficult for me to bite my tongue if I feel passionate about something.

 Well... I think some people on this tutorial felt like I am a little bit to much for them :D  I am hoping it will change, I am very simple girl and if you have the patience to get through all those hard shields and protections walls, I am really nice and carry person. I would give my hart out to people who need help. ( self-advertising much :D ). People just need to get use to me and then they can see all those good qualities.

 One think I am regretting after this tutorial is not speaking to my tutor about my conditions. I mean, I did planned to get there early and talk to her, when no one was there, but as I entranced the classroom , there were already some students. I thought to myself :
- Naaah, don't worry Barb, you can do it.

And I was sitting quietly for two hours. My back were killing me, but I did not mentioned it. After I came home, I was drained, my back were in pieces, my hands, elbows and ankles were demanding painkillers. I could feel my migraine coming. The charms about those migraines are amazing, for example if I sit for to long ( especially on those uncomfortable chairs!) my neck muscles are ending up in spasms, which is provoking my head to develop migraine.  It is painful, but also fascinating how our body can fight and alarm us. It is nearly like it tries to tell us :
- No, this is not ok with me, you are hurting me. Stop it now!

 So I've spend all night in pain, and I am just popping painkillers now, hoping that they will start working.

I am not comfortable to talk about my conditions with strangers, heck I am still not use to the idea that I am not independent and I need people to care for me. I mean I had my first job when I was 12! I was cooking, paying bills, going to school, taking care of my mother and older siblings. Now... now I have to ask my partner if he can help me pick up my shoes... My children are helping me to get up from the sofa. They are the only people who I am allowing to see really in how much pain I am. Even around my partners family, I am acting like nothing is wrong with me, always smiling, joking.
  I tell you all my secret... I don't want my family to know this, so I am keeping it to myself, but it begins to feel heavy... I feel useless sometimes. Useless as a mum, as a woman, as a future wife, as a human.
When I have a bad day, I am just lying in my bedroom, steering at the celling, can't move my neck or head, can't get up because it hurts to much. Can't read a book or watch a movie. Lying there with my doors shut, curtains closed and thinking : How much easier their lives would be without to having to look at me in this state, carrying for me and feeling bad, because they can't do anything to help me, to easy my pain.

 Anyway... I went far away from the topic :D
So... I've e-mailed my tutor today asking her if it would be ok for me to stretch a little bit, instead of sitting for two hours straight. I am waiting for her to mail me back.

I am glad I went this tutorial. It was a good experience overall. :)

On the more personal note....

 I was talking to a few people on facebook and they've encourage me to write a little bit more personal posts as well, so here I am. Writing for all of you. It is not to hard for me, considering that I love to talk, especially about myself :D

 So you all know that I am a mum, I have two the most amazing children ever.My son is 6 and my daughter is 4. They are my reason to get up on the morning and try hard every day. Then there is my fiancée, who supports me, loves me, regardless of my moods and my pain. I also have pets, two spoiled cats, a dog, a fish and I am planning to buy myself two rabbits soon. :)
You also know that I am ill and I live with the pain. Every day is the same and will be as there is no cures.



I love rock, but not only. One of my favourites songs is :

 I love to read books, I am addicted to diet coke I crochet and write blogs. And I am obsessively organised. :) 

 There is lots of reasons why I am like that. I mean there is always a reason right? Why did I started to studying psychology and why I've decided it at the age of 25, when having kids? 

 There was never any time to do it. I've finished my high school and my life was just crazy. 

I just wanted to say that this part of my blog will not be to 'pretty', so if you are very soft I would advise you to stop reading it right now. 

There is a lot of reasons behind choosing psychology for my degree. 

 I was the youngest ( third ) child of a single mum, she had an amazing relationship with my siblings. Unfortunately that was not a case with me. She has started being violent towards me when I was 7, I remember every minute of that day and her words. She said that now as I started school everything will change.I have to admit, she kept her word. I was being hit, punched, kicked, swore at, going to school with a black eyes was a normal thing for me, I was threatened and when hurting me wasn't working then she was abusing me mentally, manipulating me and  lots of many, different things. I don't want to remember everything, but is not easy to forget. I was forced to find my first job at the age of 12, I have managed to do it all. Work, school, abuse. Yes, I've tried to finish it all. Don't think why I couldn't do it. I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 14, year after I was diagnosed with anorexia  after I nearly starved myself to death. 

Despite everything I was keep going. I've never gave up. I was attending school, later I had two jobs. I have 12 GCSE's and I was always proud of my achievements.  Now I have beautiful family. I am not perfect mum, but after the kind of upbringing I had I am the best mum I could be. 

Every bad thing, which has happened to me has made me a strong, independent and very stubborn person. 

I know what I want from my life and when I set myself a goal, I know I will achieve it. 

 I was hoping that by studying psychology I will be able to help myself a little bit, and understand why my mum was like that. 

I hope I did not scared you all, to be honest is so much easier for me to talk/write about what was happening to me as a child now, than looking for help then. 

 Part of me is glad that I had such a horrible childhood. I know sounds mad, but it made me who I am. Yes, I have bad days, specially now when I am all the time in pain, but apart from that no matter what is happening in my life, I will always keep going, looking for a solution till I find one. 

 So apart from that, I was asked a question : 

How do you do it all? 

 First of all I have a huge support from the love of my life. I mean, that guy is my angel. I wouldn't be diagnosed and I wouldn't have any painkillers if it wouldn't be for him. I was so sick going to the doctors, explaining them the same thing, over and over again! But he was my rock back then, hugging me when I was crying from pain, keeping my head when I was sick, looking for solution and he was keep taking me from one doctor to another, even when I was biting his head of. 

 Now on a bad day, he have no problem with telling me : 

- Stay in bed today, get rest and I will take care of everything. 

This man reads me like a book. Every time when I am trying to lie to him, that I am fine and not in pain. One look and he knows, what's wrong. 

 I am really lucky to have him in my life. Of course like every couple, we have our down days, we argue like everyone else. Sometimes we say things we wish, we would never say. But that's life. For the true happiness and love exist as long as we go to bed and want to wake up the next day, next to each other. 

My kids are also involve in helping around the house. I am trying to raise them to responsible, hard working adults. I have to admit I am doing a pretty good job, for now... We will see when they are going to be 15th :D 

 My kids have there chores. My son is washing plates after dinner and on weekend after breakfast, he is being paid for it. £1 for every time. He knows how to use hoover and is his responsibility to make sure that the room, he shares with his sister is clean. So he reminds my daughter that they have to make beds and clean up. 

 I am studying mostly on the mornings, because that's the time when my tablets actually work. I do it sometimes for an hour, sometimes for 6 - depends how I feel. 

 When it comes to cooking one word : SLOW COOKER

 You can save so much time!!! Instead of cooking for hours, just throw everything to one pot and leave it to cook itself . 

Also... guys... If you don't hoover for two days, your world will not be destroyed ;) 

On evenings I am usually reading books, spending time with my family crocheting and all the fun stuff. When my other half is out and kids are in bed, I am opening my laptop, updating my blogs, chatting on fb. 

Weekends are family only. 

That's pretty much it. Not much of a secret... I am not working for now, I wish I could but the pain will simply not let me. I am always keeping schedule and plan. I don't like to 'go with a flow' , I have to have everything in a correct place and happening within a timeline. lol 

 I don't know if today post was to 'dark' for all of you. Please say if it was. I was planning to keep it strictly module connected, but I presume from time to time there is nothing wrong to write about something else, right?