Study study study study study…I’ve spent the last seven days studying solidly. I really know how to holiday, huh? The background is that I started a Professional Certificate in Editing and Proofreading back in 2006, with the intention being to get some freelance work to supplement the meagre income I was earning from my job with an arts charity in Sydney. The course was designed to be completed “at your own pace”, so predictably I only completed a few units of study before it got lost amongst more exciting pursuits like preparing for my relocation to the UK.
It wasn't completely forgotten, though. I even called the distance education provider before leaving Aus to ask whether I was able to defer the study for a year or so (to save myself the added hassle and weight of transporting my study materials over with me in the initial load) and was assured that this was possible. However, when I was sorting through the pile of my mail at mum’s house over Christmas I came across a letter saying that if I did not complete all remaining assessments by 5 February 2008 I would not be eligible to be awarded the certificate. Confusion! Panic! I had paid something like $800 for this course so I wanted the piece of bloody paper to go with it! I was determined to complete all remaining units and post them off before flying back to London in mid-January.
Christmas is not a good time to study, so I grabbed the course materials from my mum’s house but didn’t look at them straight away. New Years is also not the best for studying, so they stayed unopened and stowed away amongst my luggage during this time too. I was staying with my little sister on the Sunshine Coast by now, and her birthday is on 3 January. It would be just plain rude to study on my little sister’s birthday! I made her a nice breakfast and lunch, we hung out for the day and she partied well into the night, which left Friday a little delicate. The 3rd was a Thursday, so her actual birthday party was that Saturday night. We went out to Maroochydore with a bunch of her friends and danced the night away. It was a really great night. So great, in fact, that Sunday was a complete write-off.
So finally, on Monday 7 January, I opened my study materials determined to complete the five or so assessments I thought I had left by 16 January which is the day before I’m scheduled to fly back overseas. At this point, I discovered I actually had ten units and assignments to complete.
Ten.
Not five.
Ten assignments in ten days.
That didn’t sound very fun at all. And indeed it hasn’t been overly fun. I’ve been studying like a big fat nerdy-pants, trying to get one assignment per day into the post box. I’ve since revised my travel plans and am going to spend the night in Brisbane tomorrow which means I really need to finish and post them all today. It’s 8:30 in the morning, and I still have two assessments to finalise and send off by the end of the day.
So what am I doing wasting time writing this entry I hear you think? Good question! I don't know! Gotta go study!
It wasn't completely forgotten, though. I even called the distance education provider before leaving Aus to ask whether I was able to defer the study for a year or so (to save myself the added hassle and weight of transporting my study materials over with me in the initial load) and was assured that this was possible. However, when I was sorting through the pile of my mail at mum’s house over Christmas I came across a letter saying that if I did not complete all remaining assessments by 5 February 2008 I would not be eligible to be awarded the certificate. Confusion! Panic! I had paid something like $800 for this course so I wanted the piece of bloody paper to go with it! I was determined to complete all remaining units and post them off before flying back to London in mid-January.
Christmas is not a good time to study, so I grabbed the course materials from my mum’s house but didn’t look at them straight away. New Years is also not the best for studying, so they stayed unopened and stowed away amongst my luggage during this time too. I was staying with my little sister on the Sunshine Coast by now, and her birthday is on 3 January. It would be just plain rude to study on my little sister’s birthday! I made her a nice breakfast and lunch, we hung out for the day and she partied well into the night, which left Friday a little delicate. The 3rd was a Thursday, so her actual birthday party was that Saturday night. We went out to Maroochydore with a bunch of her friends and danced the night away. It was a really great night. So great, in fact, that Sunday was a complete write-off.
So finally, on Monday 7 January, I opened my study materials determined to complete the five or so assessments I thought I had left by 16 January which is the day before I’m scheduled to fly back overseas. At this point, I discovered I actually had ten units and assignments to complete.
Ten.
Not five.
Ten assignments in ten days.
That didn’t sound very fun at all. And indeed it hasn’t been overly fun. I’ve been studying like a big fat nerdy-pants, trying to get one assignment per day into the post box. I’ve since revised my travel plans and am going to spend the night in Brisbane tomorrow which means I really need to finish and post them all today. It’s 8:30 in the morning, and I still have two assessments to finalise and send off by the end of the day.
So what am I doing wasting time writing this entry I hear you think? Good question! I don't know! Gotta go study!
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