During my first semester back at university, I documented my progress in the first three instalments of this series. If interested, you can read those entries below:

 

I’m now most of the way through the break between semesters. Whilst I haven’t had classes or assessments over this period, I think it’s important to still document thoughts and progress, because it’s all part of the broader university experience. Here’s a short overview of what I’ve been up to.

 

Focusing on other things

Given that I was working full-time for some years before returning to uni, this is the first time in a long time I’ve been able to benefit from the university semester break. It’s honestly been great to have some time to take a step back and enjoy focusing on other things.

I have a couple of jobs, and those have continued through the break, which has been really useful for the income stream. But more than that, I’ve enjoyed engaging more in hobbies that I tended to neglect when I was working full-time. It’s helped me to reset a bit, and I feel ready to go back to classes now.

"... I've enjoyed engaging more in hobbies that I tended to neglect when I was working full-time."

In my view, this - the relatively long break between semesters - is one of the biggest advantages of university life.

 

Preparing for grades and next semester

Final subject marks are released in a few days from time of writing. I’ve been doing my best not to think about my results too much, because I think I placed too much emphasis on them during my undergraduate studies. In fact, I think focusing on the marks became a bit detrimental to my actual learning, because I was too caught up in the number.

For that reason, I’ve been preparing myself to just take it as it comes this time round. It’s not really about marks at the end of the day, really - I just want to develop as much as I can personally from the experience. If marks are favourable, then that’s great, but it’s also okay to be disappointed - it will be a learning experience either way. That’s the type of attitude I’m trying to adopt, at least!

 

Reflecting on Semester 1

This time away from university also provides a really neat opportunity to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t work so well through the first semester. Here are some of my personal reflections:

"This time away from university also provides a really neat opportunity to reflect..."

 

What I did well

  • In general, I think I balanced my time relatively well. I made a start on my assessments early, and was really grateful that I did so when it came to crunch assessment time.

  • I attended every class, and participated as much as I felt capable (mostly - see below).

  • I met a bunch of new people, and made some new friends. As I’ve mentioned in previous entries, there definitely seems to be more of a cohort vibe this time around.

 

What I didn’t do so well

  • I had one class where I found that the time of day just didn’t suit me, and my participation waned as a result. I’ll try to avoid that time period for the rest of the course if possible.

  • Particularly near the start of the semester, I think I spent too long doing readings and preparing for classes. That’s not to say that preparation isn’t important, because it is - I just think I could be more efficient in my preparatory readings etc. going forward.

  • There were a couple of times where I didn’t take up opportunities to speak with tutors directly regarding questions I had about assessments. I think doing this in future semesters will be important to ensure everything goes smoothly and there are no nasty surprises when marks arrive.

 

The new semester starts soon, and I’m looking forward to updating this journal with thoughts on my new subjects!