What do you think it means when you dream that you keep missing your college classes because you have lost your car and have to search the depths of an underground carpark just opposite your house, that strangely you never notice before now and yet you have lived in the same house on and off for the last 21 years?
That and the fact that when you do eventually find your car you realise that you cannot read your time-table and have no idea what class you are actually late for.
I am no dream expert but I would say that there is a general theme of lost-ness about this dream and that would be about how I felt last night during my Tuesday night biology class. Admittedly I am starting to feel less lost with every passing week but I can honestly hold up my hand (no pun intended) and say that Tuesday night is now my least favourite night of the week - that's right Sunday you have been officially bumped to no.2. At least I am not alone, half, if not most of my class share my general feeling of dispair at the words Biology and lesson when used in the same sentence.
It's not that I don't get the need for cells...without them well we wouldn't exist, it's just why do all their components have to have such complicated names...it's a dyslexics nightmare and I'm not even remotely dyslexic...just a bit durr!
Chloroplast and cytoplasm, Golgi and mitochondria. The list is endless and then their is my all time favourite the RER...wait for it...rough endoplasmic reticulum, that last one just rolls off the tongue right? Well actually it kind of does roll off the tongue nicely, it's just a bugger to spell and I was worried about remembering how to spell psychology (right first time people, first time...thank you and goodnight)!
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Wednesday 22 September 2010
Life...work balance?
So we are only two weeks into my course and already I am starting to feel the strain.
Monday night consisted of a full day with Emily, followed by a full night of Maths at College.
Last night another full day with Emily, followed by a full night of Biology. Which was cleverly disguised as biology but was actually Maths. Completely lost, at 8 o'clock at night after a long day. Luckily I was not alone. Most of the class looked lost and the lecturer carried on regardless as they so often do. She had a lesson plan and was going to follow it to the mark. Even though it was clear to all of us that we could not complete all the necessary work required in the time she had allotted! Once home, with a little reflection I managed to understand what was required of us and managed to complete the work that I should have done in class. Despite the "Russia' sized headache that had now come to join me in my pain.
I then managed to drag my sorry self to bed, where I attempted to read something unbiology related for a little while before passing out from exhaustion!
So clearly, currently, I do not actually have a life in my Life...work balance. I just have a headache, that was still here this morning when I woke up.
Monday night consisted of a full day with Emily, followed by a full night of Maths at College.
Last night another full day with Emily, followed by a full night of Biology. Which was cleverly disguised as biology but was actually Maths. Completely lost, at 8 o'clock at night after a long day. Luckily I was not alone. Most of the class looked lost and the lecturer carried on regardless as they so often do. She had a lesson plan and was going to follow it to the mark. Even though it was clear to all of us that we could not complete all the necessary work required in the time she had allotted! Once home, with a little reflection I managed to understand what was required of us and managed to complete the work that I should have done in class. Despite the "Russia' sized headache that had now come to join me in my pain.
I then managed to drag my sorry self to bed, where I attempted to read something unbiology related for a little while before passing out from exhaustion!
So clearly, currently, I do not actually have a life in my Life...work balance. I just have a headache, that was still here this morning when I woke up.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Back to the drawing board.
I survived the induction and have embarked on my first week of teaching (well learning in my case). Last night Maths, tonight Biology...tomorrow night Psychology (maybe by the end of the course I will actually be able to spell that first time without the need for spell check).
It's daunting being a mature student, there is so much pressure on you to succeed because unlike last time you were in this situation, you no longer have the excuse that someone is making you be there. You are there through your own choice, you have made the decision to return to education. You are empowered! Or just really, really stressed! And maths and science are that much harder when you have spent all day running around after a toddler who has just grown tall enough to be able to reach the table and the contents that lie on it and has also figured out how the draws in the kitchen work...damn it now I will have to install those safety catches that I was trying so desperately to avoid installing.
And she gave us homework, on our first week! I thought we were adults on an adult course. Homework?! I think we may have to get ourselves a dog...
It's daunting being a mature student, there is so much pressure on you to succeed because unlike last time you were in this situation, you no longer have the excuse that someone is making you be there. You are there through your own choice, you have made the decision to return to education. You are empowered! Or just really, really stressed! And maths and science are that much harder when you have spent all day running around after a toddler who has just grown tall enough to be able to reach the table and the contents that lie on it and has also figured out how the draws in the kitchen work...damn it now I will have to install those safety catches that I was trying so desperately to avoid installing.
And she gave us homework, on our first week! I thought we were adults on an adult course. Homework?! I think we may have to get ourselves a dog...
Tuesday 7 September 2010
All I need is a little faith in me!
So, as of today, I officially became a student, again.
I have enrolled on an Access course at my local College, with the intention of applying to University, to do Midwifery. Five years of study, that's how long this will all take me and I thought I would write a blog to keep me company along the way.
First day at College, it was a tough one. The reality of my situation is starting to sink in, four subjects this year, biology, Psychology, Mathematics and Study Skills. Then Anatomy and Physiology and...something else either English or sociology next year.
On my initial assessment I gained a level 1 in Mathematics. I am lost and it would seem have forgotten so much of my GCSE Maths that the C grade I achieved 13 years ago may now be a little redundant. This coupled with the fact that every other person on my course wants to do midwifery and spaces are so limited. If one more person tells me how competitive entry is I think I will dissolve into tears. I just about managed to hold it together long enough to make it through and get home. When I got back I just felt completely despondent and defeated.
Having had a little more time to reflect though I am not defeated. I will go back tomorrow and have a little faith in myself.
I have enrolled on an Access course at my local College, with the intention of applying to University, to do Midwifery. Five years of study, that's how long this will all take me and I thought I would write a blog to keep me company along the way.
First day at College, it was a tough one. The reality of my situation is starting to sink in, four subjects this year, biology, Psychology, Mathematics and Study Skills. Then Anatomy and Physiology and...something else either English or sociology next year.
On my initial assessment I gained a level 1 in Mathematics. I am lost and it would seem have forgotten so much of my GCSE Maths that the C grade I achieved 13 years ago may now be a little redundant. This coupled with the fact that every other person on my course wants to do midwifery and spaces are so limited. If one more person tells me how competitive entry is I think I will dissolve into tears. I just about managed to hold it together long enough to make it through and get home. When I got back I just felt completely despondent and defeated.
Having had a little more time to reflect though I am not defeated. I will go back tomorrow and have a little faith in myself.
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