Chronicles of a Working Student - Weeks 6 - 10

Wow! I can't believe it has been so long since I actually posted. Since you already know how hectic the work/study balance is, I won't bore you with my whinging about how I had to get 5 assignments submitted in 2 weeks and how work has been nothing short of crazy, not to mention trying to get my wedding plans off the ground! No, instead I am going offer some words of comfort.

For those of you who have worked and studied before, you will know the sleepless nights (I have some first class luggage under my eyes right now), the worries about actually passing and not to mention questioning why you are doing this to yourself in the first place (I ask myself this question a lot more these days). I have realised a number of things over the past 5 weeks and hope to share in order to alleviate your own doubts about working and studying.

Firstly, you will have those days when you want to throw in the towel. You will feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. This is normal. After discussions with a few of my study buddies, I have noticed they have all felt, at point or another, that the studying thing is too much! I was certainly on the verge of giving it up! But then I reminded myself of why I am doing this. Simply put, I lurve science and can't imagine myself working in any other field. It may have taken some years to figure this out but now that I am so close (although some days it feels so far away) it would be the worst to just give up. Not only would I have nothing to show for it but I would have essentially wasted the past two years of my life studying some, albeit interesting, information that I will never use. So I know that even though I have been plugging away with moderate success up to this point, I simply have to look at the big picture. I have 20 months left of my degree (provided I pass everything) and then it's done. Considering most human beings are on this planet for anywhere between 60 to 100 years, 20 months is just a short amount of time to buckle down and finish the juggling act.

While motivating yourself to push through your degree is great at getting your head in the right place to tackle your studies, sometimes this simply isn't enough to turn the knowledge in your textbooks and study guides into decent results. Which brings mi to my next pearl of wisdom. Use the resources available to you. I will repeat this, use the resources available to you! Any correspondence student knows that sometimes, no matter how smart you are, you just don't understand the subject content. Not everyone is studying a science degree but that being said, wouldn't you want to know that once you completed your qualification, you did everything to understand your work? It wasn't until I was sitting in front of my Physical Chemistry study guide and realising that I really should have worked harder in my first year Calculus, that I thought to myself, there are thousands of students who have done this before mi, so why should I think that I can't do it.

So, knowing there are people out there with the knowledge, I thought best to start in the most logical starting point, my lecturer. Firstly, he would know exactly what is required from the dreaded assignments and exams but most importantly, he wouldn't cost mi tutoring fees, which let's face it, can get pricey and I did have a wedding to pay for after all! I made contact with him and arranged an appointment. I thought it would be a good idea to take my best attempt at my assignment to him so he knew I was serious about making it work (another tip, always try, I am sure the lecturer would get quite annoyed if you went there without even trying first). Well, this particular lecturer did not want to see my assignment. Instead, he gave mi a crash course in the subject and explained everything I needed to know about the first assignment in just over an hour. I couldn't believe it! All of a sudden I understood and could now attempt my assignment. Don't get mi wrong, it was still a lot of work getting the assignment done and not all lecturers will simply give you the knowledge you need. Another lecturer worked through my assignment attempt and pointed out where I went wrong. Once again, it took ages to fix but this is all good exam preparation so I don't mind putting in the effort.

Where my lecturers weren't available, I used other resources. The Internet helped a lot. Just one tip, always verify what you find. Don't trust one website with your answers, always try and find another one or two that say the same thing. I have also found a great site where you can post your homework questions and experts help you. just remember that they are human too and can make mistakes. I have noticed a few times where the principle was correct but the answer wasn't. I also tried to find videos explaining particularly difficult content. It does help to have some physically explaining something. I found some videos of a tutor guiding a group through some Inorganic Chemistry concepts. Ultimately, someone in the group asked questions I already had and they were answered in that video.

Lastly, don't think there is a quick fix to doing well at studying. It still takes a large amount of dedication and time but I can assure you that it should pay off. I have only received one mark back so far but it is a great mark (81% - can I get a hell yeah!?!) and even if it wasn't great I knew that I did that assignment to the best of my ability. That is the only reason why I know I can accept any mark I get, simply because I put my best effort in.

I know these concepts can seem a little obvious but to be honest, it took mi two years to figure them out and I know in the midst of looming assignment deadlines as well as work and personal commitment, it is nice to know that there are some solutions. Anyway, I am now off to tackle the secnd assignment due at the end of the month!