A former TV and film production coordinator from the Isle of Barra was one of 700 graduates who crossed the stage at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall recently to collect her degrees from The Open University (OU).
Back in 2007, Sarah MacNeil swapped her Newcastle-based TV and film industry career for island life on Barra in the Outer Hebrides. This is where she now works in education, and a flexible Open University (OU) study enabled Sarah to pursue a degree on the beautiful island.
One of the OU’s most westerly students, Sarah completed her honours degree in Education Studies (Primary), funded by the Part-Time Fee Grant, while combining family life with the modules. Now the mother-of-two is ready to celebrate her achievement.
Working with pupils from P1 to S4 at Barra’s two schools, Sarah has been able to apply her studies directly to a classroom setting as she progressed.
She said: “I currently work as a support for learning assistant, and I wanted to know more about what I was doing. I wanted to be able to do my best for all the children that I work with, and I felt that by having a deeper understanding of education I would be able to achieve this.
“Every single day is a learning day in my role. I support children that sometimes need a little extra help with their work. What is successful for one child may not work for another, so you are constantly learning all the time. My studies help me find the right path to take along with the help, advice and support from the staff at school.”
Straight after school Sarah had studied a HND in TV Production and Multimedia. She worked on screen productions, including Billy Elliot, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Wire in the Blood and Byker Grove. She had a successful career as a production co-ordinator in the television and film industry for 11 years, before moving to the Outer Hebrides, where her husband is from, in 2007.
She continued: “Living on an island has its limitations. I felt The Open University gave me the flexibility I needed to study. I have a young family, I work and my husband is a lorry driver that takes him off island regularly, so my studies had to fit around all of this. I felt The Open University gave me the flexibility I needed to study.”
About her degree celebration, Sarah said: “I feel very proud of myself that I managed to complete my studies. At times it was not easy juggling home life, work and studies. I feel an immense sense of achievement.”
The Open University in Scotland has more than 21,000 students from every part of the country, making it the fourth largest university in Scotland and the largest provider of part-time higher education.
Susan Stewart, director of The Open University in Scotland, said: “The OU welcomes students of all ages and backgrounds; there’s no such thing as a typical OU student. But what they all have in common is that they have hugely busy lives. They fit their study in along with family, work and all sorts of other responsibilities, often with many challenges, which makes our graduation celebrations so special. It’s a pleasure to be able to welcome today’s graduates to the OU family.
“I congratulate Sarah and all of today’s graduates who join more than 200,000 Scots who’ve studied with the OU in the 54 years since our foundation.”