Patrice Belton

Having ventured into mainstream university, Patrice found the rigid structure and inflexible organisation difficult to manage with difficulties in her personal life. As one of nine siblings from a Caribbean-heritage family, personal and academic support were minimal, namely because her parents grew up in a time where work ethics preceded the pursuit of education. Thus, her self-belief towards achieving academic success was fragmented.

However, studying at the OU has massively changed Patrice’s world by giving her opportunities to combine her qualifications with her creative passions. Over the years, she has had successful modules, devastating life events and a gap year, but the OU's flexible, self-paced, self-disciplined and one-to-one tutor support structure enabled her to continually pursue her goals. This she believes, makes OU study a magical combination of work, life, study and freedom.

Challenged with anxiety and depression disorders, university culture, meeting deadlines, remaining focused, finding motivation to persevere and building effective support systems has all been difficult; especially in pressurised and/or stressful times. Yet, Patrice is succeeding in her studies, and is humbly enthusiastic to start her final module in October 2019. If she can do this, so can you!

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