Incoming tide

First week is over and already getting to grips with new courses and timetable. Managed to get lost on Friday, trying to find an English lecture. Nothing new there but not a good sign when about to become a mentor with the job of showing 1st years round campus.

Was allocated what seemed to be a huge group of newbies at orientation and got 22 of them round safely and signed up as my 'mentees'. So hard to believe that only a year ago I was one of the bewildered masses arriving on campus. Lovely to see familiar faces in the crush - friends of my son from both Galway and Mayo, one of whom is in my little 'family'. Hopefully they will all settle in well and enjoy their first year at NUIG as much as I did.

Today is the Failte Fest - that mad rush around campus to collect stickers while sampling everything on offer and playing games. I'm working in the sports centre and expect to have a fun day, wearing my 'Ask Me' t-shirt again :-)

What a difference a year makes! Putting aside the academic aspect of university, the most important thing I've learnt is how to make the most of life and relate to other people better. Still got a long way to go (IMO) but I've started on the right foot I think.

This year is going to be great :-)

Did we really have four and a half months off?

First day back and after a few hours it was hard to believe we'd ever been off campus!

Okay, so a few things were different: There are a few thousand 1st years yet to arrive on campus; the paving outside the library has been re-laid (again); there's a new print shop on the concourse; Room 201 has had its desks replaced with tiered seating - very nice and a shame this has not been repeated in all the concourse rooms; Aras na Maclein has a new automatic door that is so slow to open it's hard not to walk into it; and the ladies loo in the college bar has been done up. Oh, and no more Stella Artois on draught at the bar :-(

Meeting up with friends from last year was great. No matter where I went there was a friendly face and a greeting. Lots of talk about what subjects were being kept on this year and how hard it was for some people to decide what to drop. Listening to others, I definitely made the right decision about quitting Spanish - the course is much, much more difficult this year.

Our first 9am lecture in Philosophy was great, despite getting homework, and starting as I mean to go on, worked in the library for a few hours before meeting up with a mate. Ended up going for a pint to christen the new year! The introductory English lecture gave a good outline of what is ahead and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the courses. Was the first to slip my seminar choices in the drop-box so, fingers crossed, I'll get my first or second choice this semester.

What a difference from the first day last year! Straight in the deep end and picked up where I left off. Got my locker, bought some books, borrowed a few more from the library and only have my fees to sort out and I'm all set.

It's good to be back :-)

Second Year and maybe a little more mature?

Summer is over and lectures begin next Monday. It's been a long few months away from Galway and I missed campus life a lot. Mind you, the break away from serious study was nice - read a lot but mainly enjoyed spending time doing ordinary things, either at home with the boys or in London with my partner.

Did a lot of thinking about the future, particularly about continuing Spanish in college. After weighing up the pros and cons, discussing the matter with friends and family, and shedding more than a few tears, I decided that doing an Erasmus year was not practical and that there are other ways I can get to live and work in Spain. (This is how the mature part of me thinks). Having studied the course options, I am choosing Philosophy as the subject to accompany English for the next two years.

Making the decision felt like a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders and I began to look forward to getting my nose stuck in the books more than ever. Must be the right choice :-)

Now we have moved into a much nicer house in Galway, with a longer walk to NUIG so my fitness level should go up! My books are growing along the shelves and it's just a matter of having a relaxing, enjoyable weekend before I am, once again, a Mature Student.

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!