Another path- the first year ......

[chopc]

Apologies if I didn't tag anyone. Hopefully have inckueded all current posters

Chopc - Durham-History
@jano69 -Durham -History
@OnTheBenchOfDoom -Durham - Computer science
@Majaso12 -Imperial - Biochemistry
@bendmeoverbackwards -Bristol- History
@Pumpkintopf -Imperial -Physics
@ChimneyPot -Brown (US) - Open
@Stillcrikey -Bristol -MML
@Tenpastseven - Bristol -modern languages
@Longtimenewsee - Durham - Chemistry
@MidLifeCrisis007 - Durham -History
@BigWoollyJumpers - Exeter- History
@SeasonFinale -Bristol- History
@Notagardener LSE
@Revengeofthepangolins UCL - History
@raspberryrippleicecream ? -Maths
@derekthe1adyhamster Birmingham- Computer Science
@Vargas -Durham -Geography
@AvocadoPlant Exeter -History

….. and talking of Exeter, DD goes back tomorrow so she’s on site for when the exam questions are released on Friday.
Hope everyone had a good break and all DC are looking forward to returning - despite the looming exams !

Thank you!
International relations. Just needs to get the grades now!

Happy New year to everyone!

dc goes back to Durham on Monday (trying to avoid train disruption ).

I hope everyone’s Dc has had a good break and are looking forward to the term.

Dd has been non stop revising over the holiday, just taking Christmas Day off. She’s very stressed and says she has a ridiculous amount of content to cover and not enough time to revise everything and do extra reading on top. They’ve only got 2 practice papers and only been given a mark scheme for half of it. Seems to have to teach herself a lot of the content as well.

She had an email today saying a boy in the same year as her on her course has died unexpectedly over the holiday 🥲

Oh goodness, how awful. I am sorry, I can’t begin to imagine how his family must be feeling.
It certainly puts exam stress into perspective when you think what they must be going through.

Oh that is such sad news @Majaso12 . That poor family 😞

@Majaso12 . just wanted to say I hear you re your daughters workload stress . Dd has had only a few days off this Xmas . Only 1 exam when she goes back but has been covering content and revising in order to keep on top of all the content ready for this terms workload and for the main exams at the end of the year .

@Overeggingthepudding. Is that the first term, up until Christmas your daughter has been revising? Dd has been revising all the content from the beginning of 2nd year up until Christmas and says it’s not enough time to do it all. I don’t think her Summer exams will have any of that content in, the content for her Summer exams starts after her January exams. She has 2 exams, 3 hours long each in January. Then she has a Python programming exam in February.

Happy new year everyone!

@BenchOfCompany that's amazing for your DS! Well done to him!

DS travels back on Sat with his housemate who will be driving up to Durham

I am so very sorry to hear about the student @Majaso12

It's amazing how contrasting the sciences and the arts are in terms of the workload and deadlines.

DS has certainly worked harder last term than in the previous year but he has had a proper Christmas break

@chopc thank you. We are driving Ds back on Sunday. My niece has been affected by train strikes and returned early to her uni accommodation for fear she would miss her first day back.

@Majaso12 I am sorry to hear about the boy who passed away. I hope your DD is okay and anyone else touched by it.

Ds has also spent this holiday doing coursework, lots of different projects with deadlines in January and February. He is also working on a group project and he is the one having to crack the whip to get others to do their part. It is meant to be monitored but that person hardly shows up either and this counts toward his final grade. I hate group projects for this reason.

Yes@Majaso12 .. all the content up until Christmas. Like your Dd.. some she said she had to teach herself for first time .The end of year exams in June will be on the whole year though so she has to keep on top of it all the time as ( I’m sure your Dd can relate! ) the content builds swiftly .
She managed to keep up with 1 society last term but the other fell by the wayside. It just seems a shame when there is so much on offer.

@BenchOfCompany Project work can be a real pain for them. Do they feedback on each others performance and is their feedback taken into account when the protect is marked?

@Overeggingthepudding yes they do and Ds got some more credits due to this on this project. But this time it isn't some insignificant project, this is for a real world company. I cant say too much as it will be outing but imagine there are some projects that are for giant tech companies so write a code for AI to improve something minor or write a system that can help a specific local community outreach program solve something that they cannot afford to pay for someone to come in and do it. You meet the outreach leader, you have update meetings with them etc. If the project is half arsed for the big tech company, no real impact but the outreach one? Huge. He feels the weight of that responsibility and sadly has last minute submissions by the team. Ds has always been proactive, balances his workload well. His team frustrates him with their attitude to work. He is glad he got this project and doesn't want to let them down.

I am pleased in a way that you and Majaso are also saying that there are elements that they have had to teach themselves. We feel this way about Ds's stuff too. There are things they have to go off and learn but it isn't information you can just google. I keep telling him if he had just done English lit like I did I would be useful to him he hates English Lit.

We are now doing round 2 with Ds2 who is in year 12 and the uni talks have already begun. Different subject but similar uni choices to Ds1.

@BenchOfCompany. Dd has has 2 group works which was with 2 international students. She ended up doing almost all of both. They’d make some suggestions but then not do it themselves. All one seem to do was try and get the word count down by taking out words which then made it not make sense. Dd wasn’t impressed with what they did write which wasn’t much, so ended up rewriting it. It caused her a lot of stress as she had other work building up she wanted to do. She had some panic attacks because of it. They all got the same mark for it.

Dd finds some of her lecturers who are only teaching as part of their research, aren’t really interested in teaching so they end up having to teach themselves the content. They spend a lot of the lecture time showing them their research papers and then rushing through the lecture.

@Majaso12 goodness no wonder she was stressed. In a way it shows how much she cares that she wasn't wiling to hand in shit work. Completely unfair though isn't it?

Ds's team is larger so he really feels in the minority but Ds has now implemented a system whereby everyone agrees to tasks and those now get documented. You can easily see who has completed their element meaning they no longer have to message to say they have done it or to chase it up. Hopefully he gets extra credits for that too.

Also terrible for your DD that the lecturers are prioritising promoting their research rather than teaching the actual subject content. Ds has said he is looking forward to an actual job where he feels like holidays will actually be holidays.

@Majaso12 I went to UCL where there was a lot of research going on . However I remember being able to approach the lecturers straight after the lecture or find them later to explain something which I didn't quite grasp. Admittedly I only did this when I actually had to know the stuff for exams and not throughout the year

yep - Dd has said the same re lecturers showing their own research rather than teaching content . Some have been really interesting sessions( and some sound a bit random tbh!) but it’s a problem when you haven’t been taught some of the content for the module

She’s had some Q&As after lectures, but said they get annoyed answering questions.

Oh dear, does it ever get any better?! DS2 went back to Exeter on Saturday and here I am moping around, missing him massively already! 😂
Spoke to him last night and he'd just submitted his last essay (due today) so was happy about that. Sounds like the tutor gave them rather a muddled brief and lots of them have realised they're not really sure what they're meant to be doing and have asked for extensions

Still have DS1 at home, so not completely bereft, but I did just go into his room to tidy up a bit and it's so cold and empty (DH was in there, switching off the heating before DS2 had even left the house! 😂)

Lol at your dh @Jng1 turning the heating off

I am also missing DS and can't believe it's my last year with a school age 'child' at home.

We have a weekend away planned at the start of February half term for which DS is able to join so looking forward to seeing him then.

How is everyone? It's so cold outside makes me feel like hibernating til spring!

@Jng1 I know how you feel, as soon as I get used to DD being home she is off again. I'm glad your DS has finished his last essay. Exam season it tiring, my DD is two down with one assessment to go then normal uni life can resume.

We are back in Exeter next month for DD's birthday and dinner with her flatmates will be on us 😀I'm just happy we are invited this year! Can't believe I will soon be a Mum of a 20 year old and not a teenager.

Sorry to hear your sad news @Majaso12 every parent's nightmare and very unsettling for your DD.

@Pumpkintopf Always nice to have holiday plans. We were away as a family at Christmas which was lovely.

Dd has her second exam this afternoon and is in a right panic and feels sick. She keeps saying she can’t remember anything and it’s like she’s looking at it for the first time. She revised every day over Christmas, only taking Christmas Day off. Worried all that time revising was wasted if she can’t remember anything or it could be how anxious she is, is making her forget. Hope she’s exaggerating.

Ugh - Coursework. Bain of my DD's existence. Last year she ended up doing the entire thing on her own, one person never even showed up, at all, ever. they all got the same mark as DD was relaxed about it and didn't make a fuss. This year DD was bullied out of her group by a self appointed team leader "mean girl". First section was a nightmare, as they scheduled meetings when DD had a compulsory lecture and they insisted on using SnapChat to communicate so no paper trail. Tutor helped sort it out for the second section, the group begrudgingly agreed to DD's request to use WhatsApp, and it helped that mean girl went home for an operation, suddenly the group got on, the bitching stopped, and DD was included! It remains to be seen what the group mark will be and whether DD gets marked down by feedback from mean girl. Sigh.

In the meantime DD had a great mark on some coursework for a Theology module she is doing as an optional with History, and is really liking the course. She just had an exam on the module too. She is interestingly doing another Theology led module this term. It's so interesting, I am reading all her recommended texts, and her submissions and learning lots 😁 She writes a great essay.

@Majaso12 hopefully it will just be nerves and she will be fine. They do work hard at Imperial don't they? DS took a bit of time pre Christmas as he was ill and then Christmas Day but as you say, was working throughout the holidays otherwise.

Group course work does seem to be a can of worms for sure.

@KnittedCardi theology must be so interesting as an optional! What sorts of topics is she looking at (if you can say)?