Posted by Northern_Phoenix on Sun 7 Oct 07, 1:54 PM to Northern_Phoenix's blog.
and how it comes and goes...
Yesterday was a really odd day. It was very late when I got out of bed, by my own standards at least, and all day there was a big feeling of lethargy about pretty much everything in general. Walking about in fresh air didn't help, eating didn't really help. Couldn't get my head into gear over much of anything at all, which probably makes it a good thing I don't have loads to do yet!
A friend thinks it could just be the 'stress' of the last couple of weeks catching up with me. There might be some truth in that, although the last few days in particular have been really stress free. The course, so far, is a joy, and I'm feeling continuously excited about it. I'm getting to know a couple of people beyond 'Hello, how are you?' levels too. While I don't know if it's just coincidence, they're both home students, and they're both a little older than the masses - one had a year out, the other is like me; returning to education after being out in the world of work for a while. Still, it's great to actually relate to people feeling a bit out of things themselves!
Today... Ok, so I woke up late again, and still feel somewhat tired. But already I've hunted out the bits of research online I need to, finally got the various notes and handbooks organised so they're easily findable when I need them, and am in a frame of mind to actually read and make notes. I'm even going to try and plan the week ahead in terms of what needs doing, and when to hopefully get it done! I think that if a mood like yesterday hits again, which it hopefully won't do in the near future, then I'd much rather be ahead of where I need to be and be able to afford to do nothing rather than trying to play catch-up.
Also, I plan to make a lovely big pan of chilli later. And this time there will hopefully be no annoying fire alarm because some idiot has burned their toast going off which causes it to be ruined!
I didn't really need to mention that last part 
Phoenix
| 7 Oct 07, 1:56 PM Marmite UK(CB), 5 yrs  |
You're a student... while in rome... or in uni... at least learn to burn the toast  x A rose by any other name has thorns that will still make you bleed.BITE ME | |
| 7 Oct 07, 2:06 PM fussyone 9 yrs  |
Sounds like a good strategy to me, get ahead which allows you to have bad days  . Have you met the students yet who say they don't do any work and yet get the best marks - they are twats! I think the do it so that if they fail they can say: Well i didn't do anything anyway. If they do well (which they usually do because they are lying lol) they claim that they just get it straight away and retain all the information.
I found the usual uni life stressful and didn't like many students for varied reasons: as a mature student with a child - i never had time to have fun with them. They would ask me for resources and never return any. Some twat always hides the one copy of the journal available in the library so they can always find it. I just didn't get any benefits to being at uni and had no associations to be people on my course who's main issue was when the cleaner was going to clean their halls blah. Anyway, i now study at the open uni
But, your strategy is the right one stay focussed on your work, get ahead and you will be just fine, also find time for fun. Just ignore the bastards who apparently don't do anything and get firsts - you will meet them lol. I hope you find the interesting people on the course who have some life experience as you do - that makes a difference. Good luck If you do have any issues regarding mental health or anything of that nature, get in contact with student services now and they can make slight adaptions for you. Edited 7 Oct 07, 2:09 PM by fussyone | |
| 7 Oct 07, 2:36 PM Northern_Phoenix UK, 8 yrs |
Don't get me started! I had learned how not to burn toast by the time I was about 14/5, it's not really a complicated skill Someone did it on the first night here, and was in floods of tears at being the cause of everyone getting dragged outside. Of course, the next time it happened there was a slightly smug/bitter 'Well it wasn't ME this time' from her! When a man loves a woman it should be understood, | |
| 7 Oct 07, 2:49 PM Northern_Phoenix UK, 8 yrs |
So far I've not met any of that type, but then there's loads of time since we're nowhere near assessments yet. So far though, there are loads of people not trying so hard... All this year involves is scraping a pass mark to get onto the second year, and it doesn't have a direct impact on final marks. Lecturers have memories though, and I'd rather make a good impression than a bad one I identify with that seeing things differently to most people, especially on the 'waiting for things to be done for us/them' thing. It's always been in mind that it's far better to make one or two really good friends than dozens of really shallow ones, and I can't see that changing. I'll know the people I'll gladly help work-wise too, and which ones to just kinda fob off!
Thanks for your reply When a man loves a woman it should be understood, | |
| 7 Oct 07, 4:16 PM Northern_Phoenix UK, 8 yrs |
While I'm going to be careful not to over-do things, in the bits that are relevant to where I want to go I'm hoping to do more than just the bare minimum in terms of reading and things. I've already had a taste of the 'I know it already' thing with th Quantitative Analysis stuff - there's something about being taught what a bar chart is that's laughable at this level somehow, although I do realise that it might be uncharted territory for some people, so the plan is to read stuff AFTER having the basic lecture. I think I'll be lazier in some stuff though... I do a shared first year, and the Social Policy parts are things that I can see just leaving me cold, so I'll naturally have less enthusiasm to make any effort above & beyond there.
A healthy balance between the two is the ideal really, so it's just a case of finding where that balance is I guess When a man loves a woman it should be understood, Edited 7 Oct 07, 4:17 PM by Northern_Phoenix | |
| 7 Oct 07, 4:37 PM verte UK(E), 8 yrs |
I disagree with this. No, you don't have to do much work in first year. But reading around your subject is what the people I know who've come out with the really outstanding grades have always done, and in first year you don't have the pressure of being graded. You have time to enjoy reading for its own sake. I kick myself still for not doing any work in first or second year, really, because when it came to writing my dissertation and larger essays in the third year I felt like I was swamped by massive theories that I only had tiny bits of knowledge of, when I'd had two whole years to get comfortable with them. I had big ideas and they were acknowledged and credited, but I just didn't have the reading to back them up and didn't do as well as I know I could have. I'm feeling it all the more as a postgrad. I suppose it really depends what you describe as "work". The smartest person I knew at university had read everything on the reading lists by about week 6 and felt incredibly frustrated by people around him. On the other hand, he ended up winning all the prizes, got an absurdly high mark and full funding for postgrad. He'd probably have done just as well without the hard work, but also came out with a very solid knowledge of western philosophy, which even most of his contemporaries at MA level couldn't match. We still went out and got pissed aplenty, but he didn't waste time like I did.
I say work hard, play hard. Soak it all up. Don't shirk away from reading around your subject just because others aren't. It will be frustrating in seminar, but you're paying for this degree and deserve to get as much out of it as you can. Buddy up with the postgrads, who you probably have far more in common with than first year undergrads anyway. Make use of reading groups, which I'm sure Nottingham must have. Memo on its way when I've read this sodding essay. http://sm-feminist.blogspot.com/ Edited 7 Oct 07, 4:46 PM by verte | |
| 7 Oct 07, 6:51 PM Northern_Phoenix UK, 8 yrs |
There's a key point that I talked over with one of my flatmates there actually, and that's the fact that this IS costing money to do. He had the point of view that it's the people that you get to know that really make the Uni experience, and that the work will fall into place around it; His belief was that if people were good enough at what they were doing they'd pass with a relatively good grade anyway. My own opinion was that first and foremost I was there to work, and come away with as good a degree as I possibly could. Friends come and go naturally if you partake in social circles anyway, and there'll always be the scope for that no matter where you are and what you do. But what I'm doing now? It might not exactly be a one-off shot, but I'd be kicking myself if I blew it, so I'm determined not to! A nice 'food for thought' post, so thank you for it. It does make sense to treat the first year as laying the foundations for the next two (and possibly beyond) in every sense though. Ultimately my time here is going to be what I make it. When a man loves a woman it should be understood, Edited 7 Oct 07, 7:02 PM by Northern_Phoenix | |
| 9 Oct 07, 12:16 AM Miss_OL UK(YO), 6 yrs |
I would also agree with working hard in the first year, but don't make yourself miserable. Although it doesn't count towards the final mark, it gives you good practice and confidence for the other years. Plus, it often works as a good grounding. I did well in the first and second years, by the third year, my mum had breast cancer and I missed a term of lectures - I'm sure my second year marks and my reputation as a good student, carried me through really as I was given one to one tuition to catch up. It's always best to work hard, when you can, you never know what's ahead. Some people go to uni, thinking that they're smart enough to be there, so they're bound to pass, whereas really going to uni, just proves how much more there is to learn. ~Dance Me to the End of Love~ | |
| 9 Oct 07, 8:47 AM Ultramarine 5 yrs |
Sounds to me like you have just hit the nail on the head and already know the one thing that eludes many students and is actually the secret of success. It's not just a balance but a healthy balance that makes the difference between a happy successful student and a worried anxious student. That and learning how to pace yourself so that you work on a regular basis. Above all, enjoy it- after all you have paid and are paying for it! Good luck! | |
| 9 Oct 07, 2:02 PM ClassicDom UK, 5 yrs |
I say work hard, play hard. Soak it all up. Don't shirk away from reading around your subject just because others aren't. It will be frustrating in seminar, but you're paying for this degree and deserve to get as much out of it as you can. Buddy up with the postgrads, who you probably have far more in common with than first year undergrads anyway. Make use of reading groups, which I'm sure Nottingham must have. Memo on its way when I've read this sodding essay.
[/quote] Hear hear a thousand times! Get in with the postgrads and the thinkers - get smart and cruise through life. CD |
