It's at this time of year I'm quite grateful that I'm not your typical university student. I don't have to worry about packing my life up and travelling hours in the car to move back to uni. All I have to do is get back into the mind frame of being a student. I say "all I have to do" as if it's the easiest thing. It's not.
As we finished first year, I told myself "have a few weeks off! Relax, enjoy having fewer commitments and time constraints" well those few weeks off turned into a whole summer off and I've done very little that I had planned to do over the summer. With all intents and purposes I had planned to read journal articles and reflect on them. I had planned to read some research relating to my chosen area of study for my own research project I'll be undertaking this year. I had planned to go through my first year folder, sorting out the mound of paperwork I have on my desk. And yet, somehow none of this ever happened. And now second year has begun.
Well, it officially begins next Thursday but I've been in uni for the last two weeks enrolling and filling out paperwork and revising study skills and talking about the jump from first year to second. It's all a bit overwhelming. There's so much to think about and so much to do to prepare. And of course we are being thrown right back into it. A presentation in four weeks and a research project plan due not too long after that.
I'm looking forward to second year, in a "deer in the headlights" kind of way. I like a challenge and I'm looking forward to starting new modules and returning to old ones too. This year I have been able to choose one of my modules myself which was cool - ok hoping it will make me more motivated as I've chosen a subject I'm very interested in!
Finding my groove again as a student could be interesting but I'm hoping it won't take too long. I guess time will tell... I'll keep you updated on that one!
