Monday, August 12, 2013

Mid term reflection

WOW - it's mid term already!
Well actually its after mid term, cause this is now week 6 and time to get back to the grind stone.
I thought I would start off this second half of term with a mighty big reflection which is always good for the soul and very helpful in getting back on track and heading in the right direction.
This term has been huge again - although I really think all terms will be huge, so I had better get used to it. I really do love the vacation week at the six week mark cause I really start to unravel a bit and things start to build up. It is great to just catch up and reassess everything and kind of clear the slate and start afresh.
 
Professional practice is huge, I am finding that this course is taking way more of the required 12 hours to complete each week. There are videos to watch, tutorials to sit, readings to do, assessments to get done along with the lectures to watch!!!!!
 I can't tell you how much I will be glad when this course is over! It involves a very big group work assessment and I must say that I am not enjoying that at all. I realise that the whole point of it is to learn to work with others but I am a bit of a control freak and really only feel comfortable relying on myself. It is frustrating to say the least when you are wanting to get stuck into the work load but no-one else in your group is as keen as you are - Urgh!!!!! Anyway I just have to learn to compromise and do things a little differently than I am used to - I just want to get it done and then we could spend the last couple of weeks fine tuning but I have the feeling that the others would rather just fly by the seat of their pants and get it done just before it is due. So to solve my uncomfortableness with this situation I am trying really hard to be less stressed and relaxing a bit and just working on my bits and then I can just spend time fine tuning my own stuff, while we work as a group on the group portion. Everyone I am working with seems really nice, it is just that they work differently to me (and I guess that is the whole point to the exercise) .
 
I am loving my other two subjects!! They are the psychology subjects and are much more comfortable for me. I sat my mid term exam week 5 and got 29/30 hence I am a happy girl with that.
Mind you it did take quite a bit of hard work to get that 29 - I studied for that exam for nearly the solid week before the test and let the other two subjects lapse into break week to do so. Anyway it all worked out - I am now all up to date and raring to go again.
 
On the home front I have two of my three boys off sick at the moment. My biggest boy has had a very hard time at work during the last week and a bit. Being on call 24 hours a day takes it toll after awhile especially when he doesn't get a proper nights sleep for many of those nights and then has to cancel days off when others call in sick. Some times it is very hard and I don't know how he does it - I cannot cope without sleep or food and sometimes he goes hours and hours without both. Then adding chest pain into the picture - it is not good and I finally convinced him to go to the doctor. Who took one look at him and sent him off on sick leave - sometimes you just have to stop and look after yourself first no matter who you have to let down. Its better to stop and take a break instead of fall over in a heap and not be able to get back up. He has been told to relax and not do anything stressful for at least two weeks. Then I also have my littlest boy down with one of these rotten fluey coldy things that everyone is getting - I know he is sick when he doesn't move all day. He has had raging temperatures and bright rosy cheeks. We are just trying to keep temps down and fluids up - he does seem a little brighter today, so fingers crossed. He and the big fella are currently watching an old western on tv - nothing soothes the soul like an old western hehehe. Luckily boy number three is healthy - although he is very much a teenager again but that is a whole other story!!!!!!
 
Ok well I am off to go read chapter 13 Social Development for this weeks readings for social foundations of Psychology. Then I have my 50 000 pages to read for Professional practice (hehe maybe not 50 000 but the readings are huge for the week - I will go add up how many pages I have to read for you - 100 plus pages- urgh - makes it so hard to try and retain it all!!!! (in the time it took me to count them I could of just read a few pages -  couldn't I))
  
This will be me this week!!!!
In between taking temperatures and fluffing pillows for the sick ones in the house hehe
Hopefully I will be back in the next couple of weeks with the luxury of time to reflect on the next half of the term - it is so good for re-evaluating and refocusing. 
Talk soon
x joy