I need a kick up the bum

[LipstickLil]

I started a PT degree with the OU in 2016 in a subject I've always been interested in. The plan was that once completed (the completion date of 2022 coinciding with my youngest DC starting secondary), I'd hopefully be able to get a job in this new field and thus go back to work after a long break as a SAHP.

Years 1-4 of my study went well, but after the pandemic I felt utterly burnt out from homeschooling our younger DC (who at the time had un-diagnosed ADHD) and I decided to defer for a year to give myself a break. DC went to a new school that involved a lot of driving and we didn't know how he'd cope initially, so until he was settled in it made sense to have one parent who was available.

After my deferred year I went back to PT study and completed Y5 and all was fine. But for the final year of the degree I needed to do two courses side-by-side - one was a normal course and the other an extended project and I really struggled with the latter. I didn't know what I was doing, felt the guidance was too wishy-washy (mainly because everyone chooses to do something different so it has to be non-specific), and my tutor was rubbish. As a result, I ended up deferring the project until this year so I could do it on its own. I re-started the project course in early Feb and I've chosen a project, but recently there's been a lot of stuff going on and tbh I don't want to do this bloody course, but if I'm to finish this degree, which I've been working towards for almost eight years, I have to just get this final bit done!

To make matters worse, I had an email from the OU this week saying that my tutor is going to be unavailable for a period of time. I need to speak to her to go through the feedback from my first assignment as she was going to help me develop my idea and now I can't contact her. I've been given the contact details for another tutor, but my normal one is so good and has been really supportive and I don't know this other person and I'm on the cusp of just giving up.

If anyone has managed to read all that and has any pearls of wisdom or motivational messages, I'd love to hear them. I feel fed up and utterly demotivated and like I just don't care any more

In my final year with the OU too, 4 assignments and 13,000 words to go.

It feels like hard work because it is, but you can get through it. Have a look on your TGF see if there are any WhatsApp groups. They’ve literally dragged me through the year.

Remind yourself how far you have come, how many words it took to get here, then look at how many left to go. You’re closer to the finish line than the starting point.

What modules are you doing?

Don't give up! Speak to the temporary tutor first just to get a sense of them and see what they say.

If you've got the disruption of losing your normal tutor then they need to support you - but you have to ask.

Thank you all. I think just typing that message and laying it all out was a kick up the bum in itself. I emailed the stand-in tutor yesterday and she called me at 3pm and was really helpful and gave me the advice she said she was pretty sure my normal tutor would've done. I'm very grateful to her for that, particularly as yesterday was a holiday and she could easily and perfectly justifiably have ignored my message until Tues. I need to just knuckle down and get it done. I can't give up now - that would be utterly pathetic and completely stupid!

Plus, my entire family and all my friends keep asking: 'How's the project going?' and I can't face telling them that I can't be bothered to do it!

Good old social pressure😆