Marva Rollins had always wanted to be a teacher, but it wasn’t until her early thirties with three young children that she felt ready to pursue her dream – first completing a Bachelor’s degree and then studying with The Open University to achieve a Masters degree.
"When I left school I trained as Comptometer Operator. I then got married and had my three sons, so I stayed at home for a few years to raise them,” says Marva. “After a few years I reached a point where I felt I needed to lift my head up and look forwards and I started thinking about my career. Technology had moved on so much that there was no longer the need for comptometer operators, however my dream was always to become a teacher.”
In the late seventies, Marva started to get involved with her local community, forming groups such as the Women’s group and the East London Black Women’s Organisation in Newham. “Seeing the positive changes these classes made reminded me that I still wanted to be a teacher,” says Marva. She decided to enrol at a local Polytechnic and would then go on to achieve her Masters through The Open University.
Marva continues to be a very active member of her local community and has now been a Headteacher for 22 years. She is a role model – not only for her teacher peers but for all young people in her community and beyond – showing them that your background, ethnicity and gender are not barriers to achieving success.
In February 2017, Marva received an OBE from the Queen in recognition for her Services to Education. She also received an award from her native Barbados, one of only 50 recipients to be honoured as part of the country’s ‘50 years of Independence’ celebrations.
Following in her footsteps
The OU hasn’t just had a powerful impact on Marva’s life – her son has also followed in her footsteps. As a professional cricket player, Marva’s son Adrian was at the height of his career when a sudden injury changed everything. Fielding close to the wicket for Northamptonshire, Adrian broke his wrist badly, forcing him to retire in 2003. The OU was a natural choice for his studies as Adrian had already seen first-hand what a powerful impact OU degrees could have.
Read more about Adrian's story on our OU News site.