School's out!

It's official - having passed all my exams, I am a second year NUIG student. First year is now a thing of the past and I've already disposed of the notes from the courses I'm dropping. Okay, so I kept some of them out of interest, but the recycling bin is pretty full :-)

Before I go any further, congratulations to all my classmates and hope you are happy with your results. To those still doing exams (especially my Sam), the best of luck to you!

After all the hard work, I wasn't expecting any fails but still felt nervous yesterday as the magic hour of 4pm approached. Was I being over-confident? What grade had I been given for my final English essay? How badly had I done in the Spanish exam and would it drop my overall grade to a B? Most of all, would the results validate my decision to go to college?

The noise I made when the results' screen finally appeared must have been heard all over Galway! The grades were everything I'd hoped for - and more. All I could do was laugh and 'woo hoo!' and hug everybody in the house. It was a completely different high from the one after finishing the Christmas exams; this had depth to it. It came all the way from 30 years ago when going to college was an impossible dream. "YES!" it said. "The brain was always there and now you've proved it to yourself." Never mind that everyone had told me I'd do well - the (now printed) results were there in black and white. I'd managed to 'beat' myself LOL.

Then came the realisation that the numbers meant that I had built a foundation for the next three years and, as long as hard work and application continue, I can improve. A new goal to strive for :-)

As I giggled my way around Tesco later on, there was a sudden change of mood - If only my parents were alive and I could see their faces as they heard the news. Dad's smile of approbation was always enough to make one's heart nearly burst; Mum would grin from ear to ear while telling me not to get cocky. She was always warning me not to get too big for my boots!

Maybe her warnings worked. I've already started reading literature for next year and my Spanish result is spurring me on to get back to the grammar books asap. School may be out but the little grey cells need constant exercise if they are going to keep working at the pace I've set them.

No, I won't spend the summer totally glued to the books. Have been lucky enough to get a few clients to type for, including transcribing stories for a famous Irish storyteller (got to be the best transcription work ever :-). Still haven't been able to organise a trip or two to Spain, but that will happen. No way will I go back to college without having had a couple of weeks total immersion in the language!

It's going to be a very different summer from last year but just as busy - I don't get holidays from being a mum. Time to put out the washing and then do some work.

Life goes on, in and out of term time. Happy Summer everyone :-)

Where did the year go?

Ten days after finishing the last exam and I'm feeling empty - no more lectures, no more studying, no more structure to the day. What am I going to do with myself for five months?

It was good to get away for a few days after the end of term, the only problem being that it wasn't for long enough. I was just beginning to relax when it was time to come back. Of course, the old brain wouldn't stop working the whole time - reading on the journey I found myself analysing the imagery in the novels I'd brought and then (to my delight) I found a book in a charity shop called, of all things 'The Sunday Philosophy Club'! Reading it on the way home I wanted my text books so that I could check the references to Kant and Hume and the rest.

What I'd like to do today is have a Spanish class and then spend a couple of hours doing homework and writing an essay. Discovering the pleasures of academia later in life seems to be addictive: my maturity may be doubted but I am definitely a Student. Switching back to life off-campus is not coming easily to me. Oh yes, there's plenty for me to do, especially all the things I put off until 'after the exams', but with everyone home for Easter it's easy to keep procrastinating.

This week it's important that I sort out how I'm going to occupy myself for the next few months and make a living so that I can afford next term's books and a laptop. It will involve visiting Westport and seeing a few people, after which decisions will have to be made. For now I'm in 'limbo' - a place I abhor - and will just have to put up with it!

Exam results out on May 6th... maybe I'll just procrastinate until then!

One year over - the best bits

My first year in college is over, bar the exams, and it's time to look back at the most outstanding moments which will stay with me for the rest of my life. Serious reflection can be done another day. These are not in any particular order.

1. A lecturer begins term by announcing that the first few lectures will be on teleportation - and those interested in how to make a light-sabre can speak to him afterwards! - and, of course I did :-) Definitely the most mind-bending module for me and love philosophical gymnastics.

2. The magical feeling after finishing the Christmas exams and the sense of pride and achievement which was felt by all of us who celebrated together with a bottle of Cava.

3. Attending the word games evening with the English Soc and meeting with a group of Pratchett fans (including our wonderful lecturer Frances). A social night playing and talking with many like-minded people.

4. My first A for an English essay and the Peel prize nomination.

5. The Pachacuti song and 'marvellous bureaucracy' - thanks Kate Q :-)

6. Chocolate muffins and lattes in Smokey's.

7. Discovering Linguistics as a subject and lectures from Graham.

8. Eamon keeping the Spanish class in fits of laughter.

9. The constant feeling that campus is where I belong.

10. Last, but definitely not least, the wonderful friends I've made - you know who you are. Thanks for everything, especially the giggles and the hugs.

Another one bites the dust

Taking a little time out to relax after the Spanish oral exam. Went surprisingly well and the pair of us managed to raise a few laughs with our prepared jokes. The time flew and we were let out with three minutes to spare! Saw the examiners had ticked off a list of things they were expecting from us so guess we impressed.

With this and the culture exam we had last Thursday over and done with, it's just a matter of preparing exam questions for next week and then First Year is over. So glad I got all my essays out of the way because I'm feeling less pressurised than before the Christmas exams. Maybe I didn't take all of the advice I gave myself at the beginning of this semester, but I did pace myself better than the first term.

After doing precious little for the past few days except immerse myself in Spanish, re-adjusting my mind and applying it to my other subjects isn't easy - hence my scribbling here rather than working on philosophy! Maybe a walk on the beach with the dog is what is needed.

Hasta luego!

Counting down

Where has the year gone? It's so hard to believe that there are less than three weeks until the exams are over and that after last week I will never have another Philosophy lecture. One course finished and this week will see the final lectures in everything else. This time last year I was only doing the Aptitude Test for NUIG and now I'm almost finished First Year. So much has happened in the past 12 months and it's going to take a while to wind down for the summer.

The sunshine last week had crowds of students sitting outside the library. One topic of conversation was which courses we are keeping for next year and realising that many of us will not be together for lectures again. We'll see each other around campus of course but there are some people I will miss a lot. Have been thinking that 2nd year, with smaller class groups, will be an opportunity to get to know some students better, and thankfully most of our Spanish class will be moving up together. It is going to be a whole new experience again.

Now it's time to get the head down to the books for the final push before the exams. I'm not as nervous as I was before the Christmas exams - maybe a bit too laid back - but am only interested in passing everything on the first go and moving on. This semester we had way too much work piled on us and keeping the head above water has been an achievement in itself.

Roll on 4.30pm on Friday, 15 April - the countdown has begun.

It never rains...

Taking a breather from two hard weeks of slogging - this time with plenty to show for it. Got an essay on teleportation done for Philosophy and another on Early Welsh Poetry finished this afternoon, so only English to go. I don't count the weekly Spanish essays as they are part and parcel of life now. Prepared and gave a presentation with two of my English tutorial class last week as well - a great way to prepare an exam question!

As if all the book-work wasn't enough, have been lucky enough to get myself an 'Intercambio' - a mature student from Spain to meet up with so we can both practice our second language with a native speaker. Jesús is a really nice man from, of all places, La Rioja. He lives in a small town between Haro and Legrono so I will be able to meet him and his family when I visit my friend Arancha in the summer. As I hope to do my Erasmus in Logrono, I couldn't have found a better person for my Intercambio. It's a really small world! Speaking Spanish in the 'real world' seems to have unlocked my reluctance to speak it in class. Chatting with Jesús is like being in the pub in Conchar or a cafe in Durcal - and boy am I 'homesick' for Spain!

Oh well, less than four weeks before this semester is over and it won't be long before I'm sipping Cava in the sun again :-)

What else has been going on? Well, have got myself some work doing typing and proofing for a couple of M.A. students. It does eat a bit into my study time but will last all summer (on and off) and I can advertise for more work next month. It's nice doing my old job again - the only drawback is that I've had to cut short my nails again. LOL

Must comment on the huge change that has come over campus. The fine weather has tempted people to sit out again but the atmosphere has completely changed from September. The high-jinx are over and students sit alone reading or in small groups, talking seriously about work. Even the guitar players are muted. It's as if we've all grown up a lot over the past few months and the impending exams are being taken far more seriously than the pre-Christmas ones.

Just wait until April 15th - we First Years are going to celebrate big time! :-)

The bookworm emerges

I can hardly believe it is over a month since I last blogged. The pile of books that needs to be read this semester grows daily. Making headway with primary English reading but have less than six weeks to get the secondary reading done for three essays and all of the exams.

To be honest, it's all a bit head-wrecking and at times it all seems to be too much. Add in (of course) the daunting amount of work needed to keep up in Spanish and - well the only word for it is 'meltdown'. Last Wednesday, after yet another confusing grammar class, during which I managed to get almost everything wrong, ended up in floods of tears all over two of my friends from class. This was probably the best thing I could have done as they told me that I had hit 'The Wall' - something that they and a few others had done over the previous couple of weeks. It seems to be a phenomenon peculiar to mature students and worst for high achievers. My friend explained it to me as a natural reaction to the increased workload of the courses this term after doing well in the first semester. It just isn't as easy now and, after setting a high standard to begin with, you feel compelled to continue getting top grades and end up with the mistaken belief that you are useless and shouldn't have dreamed that college at this time of life was an option. Yeah - for supposedly smart people we can be really dumb!

The goal is now to get through the exams at the first attempt, get all essays submitted on time and just do the best I can without turning myself back into a blubbering lump of jelly. Ease off the pressure girl!

This is Rag Week and, with the return of the sun, campus is lively and the bar is packed. Lectures and tutorials are half-empty with only the 'oldies' like myself turning up. My college 'madness' has been to colour my hair red this afternoon instead of going to a Philosophy lecture. Keeping away from the boozing and taking advantage of extra space in the library to work.

Oh, after 10 weeks, I'm finally off the crutches and receiving Physiotherapy for the knee. One less thing to worry about. Now, back to the books!