Thirty-one years after passing her Open University degree, former Weymouth schoolgirl Nicola Willis-Jones finally ‘officially’ graduated at an OU degree ceremony.
After living in three different countries, now settled in America, the 61-year-old hadn’t made time to ‘collect’ on her hard-earned work.
But that all changed recently when she climbed the stage at the Milton Keynes Theatre to enjoy a graduation ceremony for passing the BA Open Degree that she successfully completed in 1992.
She said:
“Even though it was 31 years late, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. That ceremony means something. Whilst I didn’t think I was very clever at school The Open University instilled a love of learning.”
Forty-five years ago, when Nicola last attended Broadway County Secondary Modern senior school, now known as Wey Valley School, she left with a small handful of CSEs and never dreamed she would study remotely for a degree.
It was her partner at the time who started his OU journey first and set her off on the same track when they were both in the RAF.
Nicola said:
“I never thought I would get a degree, but The Open University was a way to study whilst working. It was very portable, even more so now with the internet, so you can do it anywhere and at a pace that suits you.
“We handed in work by post back then so deadlines had to be met early to make sure they arrived on time and then the long wait to get assignments back!”
She’s been a chef all her life and now lives in America, where she’s been for 17 years. She credits her degree for giving her the skills to go into management and now runs an award-winning pasty shop in Vienna, Virginia, just outside Washington DC, the only one in the state.
Pure Pasty Company made the headlines in the UK in 2018 and 19 by winning the World Pasty Championship, held at The Eden Centre.
“As for the ceremony, I would like others to know that you should never give up on your dreams, even if you come to a point where you never think it will happen,” she said.
She co-ordinated attending the ceremony with a visit to see family in the UK and a reunion with former Weymouth classmates from the Broadway County Secondary Modern.
After studying there she went on a catering course at South Dorset Technical College and later she joined the RAF as a chef.
The mother of three grown-up children says she never thought herself as academic but decided to give it a go when she saw how accessible studying could be with The Open University.
It took seven years of part-time study as she carried on working in Germany and then in Australia before she passed.
The OU is the UK’s largest university, which has 50 years’ experience in supported distance learning. Students learn through a combination of distance learning and face-to-face online tutor support; 71 per cent of students are already in work; 75 per cent of students had no formal Higher Education qualifications on entry.
