Damien Owens is a senior manager in data services with Eircom. He is also Dad to Clara (7) and twins Vivienne and Hilary, aged four. He began the MBA with Open University in 1997 and completed the programme last year. "I chose distance learning because our daughter Clara was little, the twins were on the way and I was working in the international division of Eircom and spent a lot of time travelling. With these pressures on my time, it would have been very difficult to have fitted in a conventional part-time or evening MBA. I had to find an MBA that would fit my lifestyle. As I wanted to do the course sooner rather than later, distance learning was the solution. With the Open University it didn't matter when I studied. I could snatch time on buses or planes and I could also choose the pace of study. "Some people worry about feeling isolated as a distance learner, but the Open University offers good support. There are monthly tutorials in Dublin where you get an opportunity to meet fellow sufferers, there was the option of a residential school, we had electronic conferencing to sort out different interpretations of course material and each student has a personal tutor. Tutors also have a day job, so they appreciate your constraints and are very supportive. "For a course like this good materials are essential and I was more than satisfied with the standard of the materials provided. The OU gave us every thing we needed and it also provided a paced study guide which indicates on a fortnightly basis what material should have been covered or asssignments completed. "Each course module is like a wave coming into the shore. Keep up with it or stay ahead and it's comfortable, fall behind and there are many waves waiting to get you and a feeling of despair comes all too easy if you get behind. I would caution people about taking on too many modules simultaneously. This can be counterproductive as it leads to cramming and a feeling that this damned course is taking over my life. But would I do it all again? Definitely!"