Archive for January, 2010

One down…

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Well, I decided to take a short break from tonight’s studying to give a quick rundown of my day.

The oul’ nerves finally decided to kick in – about an hour before the exam! At that stage, being nervous is useless; there is little point in starting to worry about an exam when you have no time left to do anything about it!

As it turns out, the exam didn’t go wonderfully well. I had prepared, and prepared, and prepared some more, so I was actually pretty well prepared. Based on the exams from the past few years, that is. Which, in fairness to me, and my classmates, were very similar every year.

Until this year, that is. For some unknown reason, the lecturers in question had decided, whether jointly or otherwise, that it was time to shake things up a bit.

And, so, of the seven of us in my class, there were not too many happy faces at the end of those two hours. Which is an awful shame, when you think of it. After three and a half years of hard (and I use that word with a grain of salt) work, it is disappointing when the first of your final exams doesn’t go well.

All in all, having gone into the exam thinking I would do pretty well, I am a bit disappointed. To be honest, though, I don’t think I did too badly. I will be happy with 70, 60, perhaps even as low as 50%. Anything lower would be devastating.

In any case, we didn’t have much time to sit around crying over spilt milk, as they say. The next exam is at 9:30 tomorrow morning, and there is plenty of preparation to do.

That is why I am sitting here, writing this. I’ve hit some kind of barrier. I’m back at the stage where I feel no motivation to work any more tonight. So, after posting this, I will make up my mind. Do another hour, and maybe get something done, or head to bed, and start again early in the morning? Decisions, decisions…

bach-toccatas-angela-hewitt

On a lighter note, I have been recently listening to a lot of Bach. Namely the Bach toccatas, as played by Angela Hewitt. Which are lovely. It would be great if I could get to that stage of proficiency in my playing. Although her playing is far, far beyond proficient.

So, that’s about all I have to say for the moment. Slán go fóill.

Exam Jitters… I Wish!

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

It’s the night before my first exam, and normally at this stage the nerves are starting to show. And that’s a good thing, because it shows that I actually care about how I’m going to do.

I generally find it difficult enough to motivate myself, until the last few days before the exams, when I really get a serious amount of work done.

This year, for some reason, it hasn’t worked like that. I did a fair amount of work in the first week of study break, and then seemed to slack off a bit in the second week.

I don’t understand why, but I haven’t felt the pressure of a looming exam, and somehow, I’ve just managed to coast through the past few days, doing a little bit of work here and there, but really not as much as I should have been doing.

They are half of my final exams, in ainm Dé!

In any case, I have had enough revising for one day, regardless of how much I have actually managed to cover. Thankfully, tomorrow’s exam isn’t until 2pm, so there is time in the morning for some last minute cramming.

butterflies_in_my_stomach

Hopefully by then I will begin to feel some nerves, maybe a few butterflies in my stomach.

What a lovely image….

Back in Dublin.

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

So, back in the Big Smoke again.

I had a lovely time at home over the christmas holidays. Two weeks of actual holidays, followed by two weeks of studying. Not my favourite way of passing the time, especially at home, but it has to be done, I guess.

I do love being at home, though, even if I am studying. There is something to be said for waking up in your own bed, wandering around in your pyjamas, having your meals cooked for you.

Nothing beats Mom’s cooking.

In any case, the countdown is coming to an end. Tomorrow is the last day of the study break, and then the exams begin on Monday.

Woop!

New Year!

Friday, January 15th, 2010

You know, it’s not that I had forgotten this blog was here.

It’s not even that I have too busy to post.

Call it what you will, I have realised this evening that it is 8 months (months! yes! eight of them!) since I last posted here.

I don’t do new year’s resolutions, but if I did, blogging more would be one of them.

On the basis that they are not new years resolutions, here is a list of things I would like to do this year, or do more often. And do them well. At least, to the best of my abilities, and that is all anyone can hope for, isn’t it?

  1. Blog more.
  2. Understand how to make nice websites. Ones that look nice, and work well.
  3. Use the knowledge from number 2 above to make some websites. Nice websites, that work well. I think we’ve covered this.

When it comes to non-internet-related things, which I guess are somewhat more important than those in the first list above, there are a small number of fairly specific goals I would like to meet, along with a few more general…. let’s call them… hopes:

  1. Most important thing I absolutely, positively must do this year is pass my finals. It’s been a long, hard slog so far, and it would be a shame to fall at the final hurdle, so to speak. And I don’t mean scrape through with 45 or 50%. Without meaning to sound like I am blowing my own trumpet, I have been top of the class every year so far, getting a first each year, and I don’t mean this year to be any different. I refuse!
  2. Contingent on passing my exams, but nonetheless important, would have to be finding a job once the summer arrives, if I haven’t one lined up already. What kind of job, I hear you, my readers (if I have any), ask? Well, given that the qualification I am currently studying for is a B.Sc. in Science Education, in DCU, the logical course of action after four years of teacher training would be to find a job teaching. So, that’s what I’m planning at the moment.
  3. Once I have fulfilled the first two goals, anything and everything else this year will be a bonus. These include, but are not necessarily limited to:
    • Building a model rail layout (more on this anon)
    • Learning a new language (possible but unlikely, given number 1 above)
    • Travelling more (quite possible, more on this at a later date)

So, I guess that’s enough for now. I know there is some theory about how writing down your goals helps you achieve them. Then, I recently heard an opposing theory that sharing your ideas with other people, and hearing their praise for having such good ideas, provides enough self-affirmation that most people go no further with their grand plans. I have experienced the latter, but I’m still hopeful that writing down what I hope to do in the next year or so will be motivation enough to give it a go.

Referring back to the beginning of this post, I think that may have been what was lacking in the last few months.

Motivation.