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.

A mixture of things really. I'm no superwoman - add a dash of depression (at bay at mo) low energy levels or total avoidance of life by sleep sleep sleeping - take ya pick there. Add sheer panic, fear of travelling (1hr each way) even bladder was stuggling to comply, scarily early mornings, complete family upheaval though my darling ds and mum and sister were so supportive, not being prepared - with reading etc, unfamiliar texts, the apparent level of all the other youngsters (straight from A level Eng Lit) I presume, dauntingly different teaching methods, uncertainty about coming off Income Support after 7 odd years etc etc etc. I just thought, to manage, would take out of me more than I possibly had to give. Whether that's true or now I'll never know.

I panicked and I ran :)

I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out for you Mspontipine.

Hopefully sometime in the future you will be in a better situtation and feel more able to cope with the demands of studying

Hi ladies

Can I join you?

I'm 30. My DS is nearly 8 months but he's a prem, born at 35 weeks. After some medical problems during pregnancy I had to suspend my studies in the beginning of the year and I have restarted in September. it felt very weird to be back and to leave my DS

I'm doing my PhD and these are my last 8 moths!! I need to finish my thesis by the beginning of June (scared face)

Ok, off to (try to) do some work.

Have a lovely day
x

Hi Mispontipine,sorry to hear that it did not work out for you. Like you I was completely overwhelmed last week after a lecture, a seminar, then rushing home to take DD to a birthday party then back home to sort everything out for the next day and I thought that I will not be able to stick it. After talking it through I realised that it was the English Lit element that I was not enjoying or engaging with and today have asked to transfer on to a single honours for History. I am going to stick with this at least until Christmas but I was not excited nor interested in the English Lit text and could not envisage the next 3 years studying something that I did not like. Hope you have an opportunity to review you further education and maybe next year you can have another go? Good luck what ever you decide but I just wanted you to know that I felt exctly the same as you last week.

Thank you esor.

Will chill, mow lawn, recover, then yes, review my options :)

Sorry it's not worked out for you Mspontipine, have you considered OU, no travelling, can study in your own time etc.

Prolesworth my exam is 2 weeks today, I am revising when I've finished this post. Good luck for next week

Mspontipine as thers have said sorry it did not work out for you this time.

Prolesworth and vjay good luck with your exams

esor glad you have found a solution which you are happy with

Evitas hello, good lluck with the phd

I got my details of my first placement last night. I am so pleased it is a schol 10 min drive from where I live and I volunteered there all last year so know all the staff. Am not feeling so nervous now. I'm going to be in yr 2!

I have a day off of lectures so need to tackle the mountain of readings and housework I have accrued this week.

Hi all I thought I'd mooch in and say hello
I'm 24, have had 2 DCs, we lost DD and DS is 9months
I have a law degree (UoL external) which was difficult to get because I was working full time from the second year onwards and also had a difficult relationship and P did not want me to succeed!
I signed up to a masters (long story) and am regretting it because IT'S SO BORING. Have just sat half my exams and still waiting for results. I'm still working. ERM, but have also just started doing maths and sciences because what I really want to do is grad entry (or even normal entry!) medicine (so I would hopefully start in September 2011, or 2012 at latest). Am finding it quite hard balancing law dissertations and exams with trying to remember maths and chemistry and physics etc from 8 or 9 years ago, while looking after DS and working. Also am panicking about what on earth I do with DS once I start studying full time because I have NO family to help whatsoever
ho hum!
Mspontine it's not too late to go back and re-start, or maybe you could defer your place for a year?
Also have you considered London distance learning? It's tough but the courses are great, or OU which you can do at your own pace?
Don't give up on your dream or you'll always wonder 'what if'
But I totally understand what it's like with a DS and I totally feel your concerns. If it helps, my great aunt recently finished an English Lit degree and she is 68! It is never ever too late.

Here's a thought for any mature students. Say you are signing up to a 6 year course aged 44. In 6 years you will be 50 anyway, no matter what you do. Would you rather be 50 and not doing what you want to do and always wondering if you could have done it, or would you rather be 50 and following your dream?

Lots of work for me to be getting on with at the moment. Although I had to post in AIBU about my group today (go and have a nosey if you want).

On the plus side, I have discovered actually, that one of my instructors, who I did work experience for last year, considers me a friend, as I was invited to go to an ice hockey game on Sunday, with another mate of mine who also helped out. Was great.

Had Glidecam training today, ouch my shoulders ache from the harness not being done up tight enough by other people and thus the whole rig's weight going onto my shoulders only instead of being evenly distributed over my body.

Lollipop just had a nosey at you AIBU post it is most definately unreasonable that the people on your course arent being careful, sound svery dangerous.

I have my first serial day at placement tomorrow. I am so nervous cos I am not sure of exactly what is expected of me, hopefully all will be sorted in the morning when I get there

Loads of work to do again. Unfortunately, everyone in my supervisor group is making a drama piece, I'm doing documentary. So while they're writing scripts I dunno what to do. So my supervisor told me to go an record an interview with a member of the basketball club. For next Friday. I don't know if anyone will be available during the week, but if they're not, I'm going to go out and do a vox pop with people asking what they'd like to see in a documentary and what they'd like to know about the sport, so hopefully my supervisor won't hate me! Hopefully someone will be free though...

oo, tis quiet in here - where are you all?

i started off on the last thread but withdrew from the course for 12 months as we moved o'seas. i have just been offered a new 12 month withdrawal until assessment so am back to studying/ writing up as everything has to be handed in next summer. (msc research/ ology type thing)

i am beyond relieved.

proles, so glad you're still going - thought you might have been a bit waylaid by the new feminist fever

so, i don't have any actual attendance, i just need to work my butt off, dust off the books, drag out the thesis plans, work out how to reconfigure my essays/ research projects so that they fit onto a different size paper (eek) (technophobe), and start printing it all out and sending it all in.

unfortunately i have perfectionist tendencies that don't sit well with my 'last-minute' deadline hogging tendencies, so that will be my battle over the next 10 months. i'd be really grateful if y'all could occasionally poke me with a big stick and make sure i'm not asleep on the job.

going to go back and read the thread now and see if i recognise anyone except proles and mia...

oh, and if anyone knows anything at all about statistical analysis/ modelling, i'd be really grateful if you could send me some clues, esp 'idiot's guide' type things, as apparently i attended these lectures in body rather than mind, and remember absolutely diddly squat.

i have four assignments to complete in this area... ideas to increase competency? i live in the middle of nowhere and there's no-one to actually ask, so suspect it will be 'teach yourself' via book or tinternet...

i think i used field a bit when i was actually on the course (have a vague recollection of spending about 2 hours on one page for one assignment trying in vain to work out wtf it meant... the more basic the better re stats tbh) thanks for reminding me!

Morning all - can I join you.

I am just about to start my first OU course. Im doing SK124 - Understanding the Autistic Spectrum. I got all my stuff in the week so have been looking through my textbook.

I am hoping to add it to a Psychology degree at the end of it all - but thats a long way off yet :)

oo, violet, that sounds interesting.
i'm not doing ou, but because i withdrew from my course, this year my study will be completely autonomous, so i may as well be! (i now live about 3000 miles from uni )

this thread seems a bit quiet at the mo, but i bet once work is due, it livens up!

Hi everyone

NofTime Re: statistics: yes, Andy Field is great. there are many tutorials and videos on-line. I don't know your field, but this book has also helped me a lot, especially to write the results.

Just had a meeting with my supervisors. My head is exploding :) but it was a nice and productive brain storming.

Good luck to everyone. Hope the studies/dissertations/essays are going well

x

that looks interesting evita - particularly as i have to plough through loads of spss blether that i barely understand! am straight social research rathen than psych, but there's a lot of crossover. is it particularly psych oriented?

lol proles - i'm waiting for this thread to sudden blossom mid work-avoidance/ beasting...

NofTime I'm not a psychologist either (Landscape architect :) ). The examples in the book come mainly from psychology but it's very easy to understand all the numbers (p