The first year of my Masters is very nearly over….and where on earth has it gone?? I can’t believe that after all the mental angst and turmoil of the first few weeks it’s very nearly over. I’ve recently submitted my penultimate essay for the last module of this year and now the countdown to the next essay begins. The deadline hadn’t even passed for the essay to be submitted and I was starting to research stuff for the next one. Am I passionate or potty? I’m not sure. 🤔
I’ve now submitted four essays in total with just one more to go before the end of year one and now I have a few weeks before the torturous wait begins for the mark to come back. The day after handing in an essay is always fab. The pressure is off, I don’t feel the need to be glued to my laptop and my books and the sense of relief is immense. That lasts for a few days and then I’m twitching to get back to the books again. I’m still waiting for my mark for the research proposal for my dissertation to come back too. I was obsessively refreshing the results page but I’ve just heard through the grapevine that it may not come back until next week so that gives my fingers a bit of a rest over the weekend until Monday. Phew.
So the first day back after the Easter holidays dawned and with it the first day of spring, or so it felt like anyway. The weather forecasters were predicting highs of 21 degrees and I think most of the Leeds undergrads had prior warning as at 8.30 in the morning a lot of them were dressed like the heatwave had already hit ie the less clothes the better – it looks like I’m going to have to dig out my Uni shorts for the rest of the semester – not.
The last time I was here (4 weeks ago) it was in sub zero temperatures and there had been a heavy snowfall, now it’s too warm even for a light coat but hurrah that means I’m able to be back studying in the Brotherton Library without having to worry about frostbite or hypothermia setting in.
I’m currently sat here in the Brotherton supposed to be prepping for the next tutorial and instead I’m writing this blog post. This actually links in quite nicely with my last blog post (you can read that here) which is about my skill in procrastinating and essay avoidance.
Lectures and tutorials finish on May 4th and then it’s back to the laptop and books for the next essay which is to be handed in on May 21st which is officially my last day of the Uni year. Woo hoo! I always have a countdown in my office to the day of the next essay submission (see above image) as it gives me something to focus on but sometimes it does seem like I’m wishing my life away. And if this Uni year has gone so quickly I’m sure that the next will go just as quick.
But something which excited me enormously happened a couple of weeks ago when I was contacted through Twitter by a BBC reporter who wanted to know if I would be interviewed that evening for BBC Radio London!! Ooooh I was so chuffed! 🎉 But I declined. 😔 What they wanted to discuss was, as she put it, ‘my experiences of the Open University’. This was obviously about the VC’s comments regarding the teaching of OU modules and his subsequent departure and all that. I do have strong feelings about what he said but there was no way I was going on the radio with a couple of hours grace and therefore totally unprepared – I need at least a week and tonnes of angst beforehand!! I’m sure they contacted loads of people and not just me but I don’t care, it was fab to be asked!
So one more week to go with just the small matter of another 3,000 word essay to write. Then I can enjoy what will hopefully be a long and warm summer before the next Uni year begins and all the turmoil, angst and excitement that will bring with it.
Happy days 😊
Deb's Adventures in Academia 