Totally Clueless – Her.ie Goes Back to College: The Devil’s In The Detail

Because working a full-time job isn't quite challenging enough for some... In a new weekly feature, recent Her.ie recruit Mary is sharing her journey through the very grown-up world of juggling a career with further education. Looking back over her first semester and forward to a thesis, Mary is learning some lessons along the way about time management, the trials of being a born crammer, the importance of sharing the stressful moments... and the reason why "mature student" is probably an oxymoron. ___________________________________ The devil’s in the detail A week from hell has ended just in time for another one to start. Remember that Economics essay I was gloating about last week as I was off gallivanting to the ballet? Well, it’s fair to say that it didn’t get done on time. I thought it would all be fine, until the weekend rolled around and there were just so many more interesting things for me to do. I had to stop into Penneys to stock up on new scarves and gloves, and while I was there, I just had to spend a bit more time getting some new clothes for work… and for going out… and some nail varnish… and maybe a few candles. From there then it was extremely important to go and see my niece – she’s adorable and crawling like a demon – and then tea with my sister had to be done and before you know it, it was 6 o’clock on Saturday evening and I had to go and get ready for my friend’s birthday party. So yes, you could say Saturday was pretty much ruled out for productive essay-writing time. Then Sunday… well, if the words ‘birthday party’ didn’t give you a hint about Sunday, a picture of me lying panned out in bed until 3pm probably won’t be much help either. Sunday evening was spent driving back to Dublin, then food shopping had to be done and by then, sure it was practically Monday morning. So the essay did eventually get done. In fact, I was gloating Monday evening thinking I was on the home straight with it until suddenly I realized I still had to do all my referencing. I had been making subtle notes as I went along about what books and journals I was using, but then I realized I had none of it typed out, never mind in alphabetical order or in accordance with the style guide for the college. So apparently it’s the little details that matter - something I quickly learned when the references section of the essay took me longer than the 3,500 words of the essay itself. Finally, it was done – a full 24 hours later, but there’s no time to relax (she says as she prepares to go away for the weekend to Mayo) as the next one is due on Tuesday. Then there's another one due the following Tuesday... It’s relentless. There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. You get through one and another one is sitting there, staring you in the face. No matter where you turn, there’s assignments to do, stuff to be read, groups to meet. And it’s only February. This is going on the whole way to September. It might seem like I’m moaning a lot, but that’s because I am. Despite all of this, and all other signs to the contrary, my results were pretty good this week - yay! I can kind of take a deep breath and remind myself that it will be worth it in the long run and despite feeling like I’m banging my head off a brick wall, I am getting somewhere and learning something. That in itself has to be enough motivation… right?