Get a first class honours degree

Passed M150 (95%) and MST121 (96%)

Can now use Cert (Open) Maths and Cert (Open) Comp & Maths
after my name.

However, I cannot sit round and wallow in all the glory as I’m still in the middle of M255.

M255 – worked out that because Ive done so well in the first 3 TMA’s that the 4th TMA is only worth 5 marks to me (with substitution) however fool that I am I’m still busting a gut to do the 4th TMA and am 3/4 of the way through.

It may be good having 85% or more on your TMA’s, but you have to
do the same in the exam and I really dont know how I’m going to get 85% in my first (or any other) OU exams.

Watch this space !

Have just booked to fly to Istanbul due to the nice people at Easyjet who are now flying there (from August 1st 2006).

I went to book a flight from my local airport (Norwich to Dalaman, Turkey) and they wanted just over £300 return.

With Easyjet I can fly to Istanbul, then on to Dalaman, Turkey
and return the same way, spend 5 nights in a hotel in Istanbul
all for the same price at I would have paid to fly from Norwich (also including the return coach to Luton).

(We own a villa nr. Fethiye, Turkey).

One downside is that theyve now dropped the price of a ticket from Norwich to £250 :-(

However, I’m really looking forward to looking round Istanbul as it will be a first. :-)

I’m going with my partner, Edward and we both know quite a lot of words in Turkish …. but unfortunately we cant manage any
sentences except for “how much does that cost”.

Because of this holiday I now have to produce M255 – TMA04
over 2 weeks early, before we fly.

I started an Open University Degree about 18 months ago.

What started it all off was that someone at work told me that a girl who sat across the room at work had just achieved a first class degree in computing … so I went to congratulate her and she told me about the OU and how to find the website.

So it all kind of happened from that point … added to the fact that I had been a Cobol programmer for 20 years only to find myself out of work for 2 years.

I went on to find a job, copying up computer programs and other pieces of software for other people.

The job was leaving me so mind numbingly bored.

Things had certainly changed since I first started work in 1979
from the point of view that I now needed qualifications to show that I had some intelligence. My 7 O’levels arent of any use anymore – in the 70’s they started you on the road to a ‘good’ career in Banking, the Government etc.

Now they might get me a job on the till in a shop.

Anyway, back to the OU degee ….
I thought I’d try one course to see how I got on.

MU120 – Open Mathematics.

I passed that with 94%.

I didnt have a clue what I was letting myself in for, at the time, but in retrospect, I should have done the two courses I chose next instead of MU120 this is because I’m 45 years old I feel that I need to achieve a degree quickly as I may hit the ageism thing with employers – that is, if Im not too old already.

So Ive just completed MST121 (Using Mathematics) and
MU150 (Data, Computing and Information).
and am sitting here very impatiently waiting for the results that are due out about mid to late August ‘06.

I estimate that I should achieve around 95% in both of them,
although the pass mark sits at 40%, I didnt feel that I wanted to ‘just pass’.

I also have another course that I’m about 3/4 of the way through – thats … M255 Object-oriented programming with Java.

This course is different from the other three courses that I’ve completed so far, in that this course counts towards the level of the degree that I achieve. No 40% mark to aim for. This one I need to reach 85% on my written work and 85% in the exam for the top level of marks.

My written work looks to be on the 85% level. But Im scared about the exam. I dont/didnt used to do exams very well years ago.

Have just electronically emailed my 3rd out of 4th piece of written work to my tutor – M255 TMA03.

Exam is due on October 19th.