Well. I did it – I got through a semester of uni. All the way to the end, no dropping out.
YAY!! This a mega achievement, and I actually feel really good about it which is a BIG DEAL. I’ll be going back and continuing with it in 2014 too, which is even more of a BIG DEAL.
There is a down side though. While I passed Organisational Behaviour very happily, I failed Accounting. So one of the things that I’ll be going back to next year is not going to be fun at all.
It’s really not a surprise, I hated the subject and I didn’t study any of the content beyond about the first 4 weeks. It is a bit of a wake up call though. If I’m going to do this whole uni thing then I need to do it properly.
So I’ll be spending this study break doing some reorganising, planning, and refreshing my study space. You may recall that last semester I did a massive study clean out, got myself a fabulous study chair, and made a (non)whiteboard for reminders. Since the end of that semester the space has become a total dumping ground again, and the desk is nowhere to be seen under all the random paperwork and Christmas decorations. I think a new year should have a fresh start though, so I’ll be getting ruthless again soon: clearing space, getting organised, and preparing to pass everything in my second semester.
What I will be doing again is putting up flash cards on the walls around my desk – that did help me remember things and prompt me. I’ll also be setting aside very specific times of the week to dedicate towards study, but this time I’ll be better at sticking to it!! I got quite slack about half way through.
Here’s what I WON’T be doing: ignoring those specific study schedule times and watching tv instead. Also, and I think this was my biggest mistake – I won’t be taking a mid-semester break. That week or so off in the middle really threw me right off and I struggled to get my motivation back afterwards last semester. This is actually good – it’s something I now know about the way that I work, so I I can make sure I don’t do it again and that I try a different approach.
In fact, what I might do is start some Accounting prep before semester even starts! I have the textbook, I know what the basic content of the semester is going to be, so I really have no reason for not being totally on top of things in 2014!