Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Archives for November 2007

[Not] The End

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It feels to me as though it’s a peculiar thing to be thinking about the end of the year. It was a bit of a rude awakening to me when people started talking about 2008, I mean, it’s only November. But then I realised, ooh, it’s only November, but that means it’s nearly December which really is the end of the year… Wow… that happened a bit quickly for my liking…
For a Southern Hemispherian the whole end of year thing means EVERYTHING slows down. I know up t’north Halloween has been the big news and they’re gearing up for Thanksgiving… the ChrisKwanHan blah blah holiday and then New Years and off you go… The whole school year carries on etc… but down here the end of the year marks the end of school, businesses shutting doors for the summer break, summer holidays in January, TV crap season, New Year’s parties but more than that, the new year here really is a ‘new start’ kind of season.
For me it will be a new year of no studying, a new year of getting my singing groove back on, a new year in the office with hopefully some new skills development and a whole lot of new web development on my site.
I’ve been thinking about it already because for some of my colleagues it’s going to be a new year and a new job. There’s a bit of it going around… I found out today that another girl is leaving the confines of our little work enclave and going on to pastures new. That’s about number 5 or 6 who’s making changes for next year. I applaud them, I’ve had thoughts of doing the same but opted instead to plump for a wage rise and a pleb to do some of my crap jobs. (Yeah, good luck with that I hear some of my ‘in the know’ readers say… meh, I’m a faith girl… watch it happen.)
I’m getting to be one of the long in the tooth ones round here. I’ve been on the payroll for 6 years and for the 3 years before that was a full time student on this same campus; I’m getting to be part of the furniture!!! It still surprises me. 6 years? Who does that any more??
The thing is I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about doing the new thing; taking my skills somewhere else, even to the point I applied for a new job about a month ago. But the fact is, when it’s the right place to be there’s no arguing with the universe (or God) over the issue, you just get on with it. I’m not ruling change out of the future, and I think it’s a good thing to think about at any time, not just the end of the year.
But for the record, I’m still here, still (basically) loving it and still growing.
And I’m happy about that.

Saving my Sanity

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If I’ve learned anything in this studying game it’s that I have to pace myself. Which isn’t to say that I usually actually achieve a balanced pace (unfortunately), but I have to look at the obstacles to getting my assignments finished and navigate around them without tripping over the hurdles.
Sometimes that has meant sacrificing marks for the sake of getting the thing done. Which is a tough gig for a ‘study to win’ kind of girl and frankly it does make me question the value of the education I’m paying for when the marks aren’t as high as I’d like. (I know… a little AR, what can I say…)
Sometimes I have to sacrifice the good for the best. In the case of this weekend, good would be finishing the current and (OMG) FINAL assignment on time for its Friday deadline. My penultimate assessment was a major one, and being ill last week actually made some time in my schedule to make a good go of it. I’m really happy with the final result. But by Saturday, my one and only day to get to the library on behalf of the last paper I was still pretty vague. In fact I spent 2 hours at the library and didn’t come out any better off. It was a classic exercise in futility.
So when I got offered an extension today there was a big part of me that didn’t really want it. I’ve been facing the final Friday with such great hope of it all being over and of spending the weekend in my fav cafes and with my camera down at the beach.
But I have to be realistic.
Getting a halfway decent mark, and by that I mean one that’s good enough to pull me through rather than take me out to the lead is going to be dependent on 2 things. One, actually being able to get my head round what’s being asked of me and two, actually getting enough time and energy around that headspace to write passable essay.
So I’m taking the extension and this weekend will STILL be spent with my head in books, and while it’s not good.
It’s for the best.