Hello to my future self and all other OU students/alumni who come across this.
I'm aiming this post at my future self, so when I look back, I'll be able to see how far I've come, the journey that I've had and be able to laugh at myself at the not yet knowing the "what happens next".
It's a weird feeling to be able to say that I'm actually studying a Law degree. Never mind me saying that I've come a long way from my NALP L3 diploma, I've come along way from my GCSE/A-level years. The naivety I had then in believing that the "career advisor" was doing the right thing for me by directing me towards the Royal Navy.
It might have taken me 25 years to come to the realisation that that moment was a box ticking exercise, but maybe that floundering about feeling lost, was what I needed to get to the point of not just wanting something different, but being ready to find out in what direction my compass was truly pointing to.
I've always done things in my own time, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think Law was the direction I was looking for.
When I applied for a different position in the company I work for during the first lockdown of 2020, I did it as my little white flag. It was my "I can do more than this, can anyone see me" moment. I didn't get the job, heck, I didn't even get an interview.
But what I did get was so much more better for me.
Paul had had the decency to call and explain why I wasn't even getting a sniff of an interview, and we got talking. Proper hind legs off a donkey talking. No recent qualifications (true) was his feedback. What do I do about that? was my reply.
That was my snowball moment. Those six words, what do I do about that, have brought me here.
Paul offered to mentor me and over conversations where more hind legs got talked off the donkey, he saw something in me that had been completely missed, something that is as obvious to me now as it was to him then.
"If you love history so much why have you never thought about Law?"
I did scoff.
Law?
Me?!
Give over, I had pretty much bombed my A-levels. I failed History (most of my year had too), I couldn't pull the Chemistry modules together to master the encompassing exam, Business Studies was a mathematical nightmare that I just about scrapped a pass on and General Studies was completely laughable, and you're talking Law?!
But, I did go and find some short courses as a taster just to see, before that led me to the NALP L3 diploma, something that I self-funded because I didn't want the added pressure of work expecting me to pass.
That was in June 2021, and by 2023, before I had even passed and received my diploma on the day of King Charles III's coronation, my application to the Open University to study their Law Honours LLB was in as soon as the doors opened.
Law.
I never saw that one coming.
I hope I have a lot of good surprises on the journey ahead and continue building my confidence from my studies, and do well enough for an Upper First or maybe even a First. One thing's for sure, I'm going to give it my all, and make it one hell of an interesting journey to look back on and be proud of.
Equally, I'm looking forward to finding out where this will take me career wise, given the volume of different areas within this industry.
And good luck to everyone else starting with the Open University today too, regardless of your study subject.
And with that, W111 Criminal Law, I hope you're ready.
Because I finally am.
