THIRD YEAR (aka. crying in the library)

THIRD YEAR of UNIVERSITY

third YEAR of UNI versity

thir year OF uni

turd yer of universatYYY

fird yah og booniburtitty

The above is a semantic illustration of what has happened to my brain box from September 2014, to the present, March 2015. *

People keep saying I'm on the home straight. So for the moment, I'm going to pretend that all that matters is finishing this degree, whilst ignoring the inconceivable and terrifying cliff edge that I then have to face once I've done all the essays, presentations, portfolios, extended essays and exams. Cue teeth grinding and night terrors. 

Through this degree I have discovered the tactical side of my personality. Each year I've come up with some sort of document which helps my visualise an end point and what I have to do to get there.

I recently went through the notebook that I kept during first year and I came across a really funny version of one of these game plan type things. In this one apparently I was worrying about exams, and hypothesising what would happen if i were to...say....not turn up to any exams?

(I went to all my exams for the record, even earn a first in one of them!)

This year I've upped the tactical board to A3 size:

Here you can see my ambitious intentions to earn a first overall for my degree. 

If you're around my age, 23, then you'll remember the incessant attempts of teachers trying to nail you down as a 'visual learner', or an 'audio learner', or 'kinaesthetic learner' during primary and secondary school. I remember finding it very frustrating being instructed to always "make a mind map" at the beginning of every project. But here I am... making a mind map.

Sometimes I find images helpful, though I think in this case it was more the process of working everything out, and writing it down that made me feel calmer about the whole thing, rather than looking at the image after it was done.

If you are studying and get baffled about how you are doing, and what you need to do in order get an outcome that you are happy with. I recommend making a chart like this. 

The website I use is so simple, and for that reason it's perfect. You have total control over all the inputs and so can come up with lots of hypotheticals. For example I discovered the other day that even if I get a lower grade than I want for my dissertation (which I really should start soon**), I should still come out with a 2:1. 

Here's a link to the grade calculator site I use, I'm sure there are others but I have used this since day one of my degree. 

http://www.benegg.net/grade_calculator.html

Ben Eggleston, I love you and I love typing "ben egg" into my browser bar. 

Seriously, give it a go. It might make you feel less like crying and more like the empowered autonomous babe that you are. 

*It took three attempts to type 2015, rather than 2014.... further illustrating my point that I AM SO DONE

**had to take a crying break