Student parent support thread - New for Sept. 2010

[MiaWallace]

Starting a new thread for a new academic year.

Previous thread here

If you are currently studying a course or about to start one (at any level) please come and join us. We offer each other support, tips and encouragement, plus we use the thread as a means of procrastination

We started off the previous thread with a short introduction so here's mine -

I'm 30 years old. Recently married with a 5 year old dd. I completed my degree in Education studies in July and I'm about to start my primary PGCE in September.

Wahh? even more confused now. When I was last studying it was pass, 3rd, 2.2, 2nd, 1st is that right? god I'm so rubbish I've been waiting for my score and now I don't know what it means. I should go back and work at asda

Thankyou.

I'm kinda freakin out; it was my 1st essay for about 15 years, I got my result and my tutor just seemed to pick the thing apart.

I was worried it was pretty bad, but I suppose I should be ok with a 63% after all these years

63% is pretty good. ideally you want to be aiming for 70+ as longer trm it keeps more options open for you (higher level study-wise) but it's not a bad mark in any sense at all. at undergrad level most of my peers would have been chuffed to ribbons with 63%

Thanks madwoman that's just what I wanted to hear.

You know I love the studying, but hate the assignments

The enlightenment to romanticism is very interesting and varied. That's the problem though every couple of weeks it's like a whole new subject

Makes it quite hard work getting to grips with something new all the time; I wouldn't have chosen it to ease me back in to studying if I had known.

On the other hand I really love the subject matter; the French Revolution, Napoleon, Faust etc all good juicy stuff that I haven't studied before.

I feel a bit better about my mark now-hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight

oo, proles, that's good. when will you hear? (bit out of the loop with applications dates...) have they got a date they call for interviews by?

i've got some housework and odd jobs to get out of the way this morning, and then my poor dusty files will finally get released from prison the bookshelf this afternoon. i know what i want to get done today, so all i need to do now is try to remember what i saved it under on which computer...

Would you like to do it?

To be honest I'm increasingly disillusioned with the course-I like History and it's supposed to be a history course, but it fact it seems to be more Art and Literature and Music,concentrating on that period of history.

The next segment I have to do is on some stupid Hymns! fgs I hate religion and I hate classical or eclesiastical or whatever the hell it is music.

Anyway I'm considering fucking it right off, I wonder if I would lose all my fees etc. what a bummer.

I'm especially pissed off as I discussed it with OU advisor in September expressing exactly the same reservations and was assured that it WAS more History than anything else and not to worry.

Thanks for the sympathy I'm a bit about my rant above.

I suspect I might be feeling better about the course when my next assignment is in(it's due on friday).

I'll talk to an advisor then if I still feel the same.

schroeder sorry you are not enjoying your course. I hope it gets more enjoyable for you.

I had my link tutor in today from uni. I was so worried as I missed tues- fri last week due to snow. But as uni was also closed they can't penlise me for it so I have been taken off my record of concern as I filled all the areas they were concerned about me missing wihtin 2 days of the concerns being raised. I will also be finishing the placement as planned this friday with no requirement to repeat any of it. . So just the rest of this week to do.
I started to feel better about everything over the past week. My link tutor said to me today you seem so much more relaxed today than last I came in. I think the snow did me a favour I had time off from everything and just recharged. Hopefully next placement won't have so many issues thrown at me from home so will be able to feel like this for more of it.

i know someone who did that course over the last couple of years and it was very music oriented. she loved that though - it was the reason she chose it. it did sound very interesting hearing about i second hand - i'm a lit nerd so have covered the period from a lit pov, (everyone runs a compulsory enlightenment sourse lol) but the music aspects sound very in depth if you are not a musician yourself (my friend is a tutor on a number of instruments).

if it helps, i changed my course after the first year of my undergrad degree, and emerged unscathed with a first lol, so you have to do what you need to. whatever will be, will be, and all that.

"very music orientated"

Now I love music, but it must involve guitars and a bit of swearing if poss, not anything remotely 19th century arghh!

Was sold to me as History!

maybe she just focused on the music bits because that's what she was into?

How are everyone else's studies going? It's hard at Christmas isn't it? I'm supposed to get a week off for Christmas, but as dd has been ill the last week of term I'm now a week behind. ah well

Hi schroeder (Prolesworth here btw)

Yes I'm well behind my study calendar too

I told myself that I'd catch up over the christmas break. Yup. Totally unrealistic

I'm still behind and dreading the next TMA (Olney Hymns anyone?)

But I'm filled with a little joy today as I got the mark for the last one and it was better than the first hoorah

Hurrah and congrats!

What are Olney Hymns?

I forced myself to do an hour this afternoon. My next assignment question is "can only humans be political animals?". There's some heavyweight theory involved

Amazing Grace is one of the Olney Hymns, which were written in somewhere called Olney in the 19th century by a couple of evangelicals, they are all rubbish

I like the sound of your assignment; It sounds like animal farm to me You know pigs giving speeches-bring it on. I love Politics, but there doesn't seem to be much of it at the OU

blimey proles, that does sound heavyweight - and just the sort of title that would end up with me going off on the wrong tangent entirely....

well done schroeder, sticking with it now? i do have a soft spot for amazing grace - no idea about the others though...

i'm on holidays and not planning on doing any actual study until 4 jan, but i've been in e-mail negotiations with my tutor. my submission in july 2011 has been formally approved, and she has confirmed she is still willing to be my dissertation supervisor, so i'm thrilled beyond belief - a really lovely christmas present!

dh has also decided that he will resign from his current contract in the summer, so it (in theory) means that we will be moving closer to (the nearest) uni- definitely worth me applying for phd in the feb applications round!

so, my Cunning Plan is to get off my backside and do some work. about time!

Merry Christmas, all!