Assignments, assignments!

Four weeks to go until all my assignments need to be in! Over a coffee with some of my classmates we all 'pinky promised' we would call each other for support if we felt like throwing in the towel. We have been doing well and need to keep going.

I have just finished reading Diane Blacklock's The Right Time and thoroughly enjoyed it. I now have her new one on my pile to read. On Monday I went to an author talk with Diane, Ber Carroll and Liane Moriarty. They were all lovely women and spoke about their journey into writing and publishing novels and were inspirational. I came home and looked at my 'book' but need to finish this course before I can revisit and spend some time on it.

Confessions of a mature age student

We are on a break at the halfway point of the first semester of my course. The work is getting more challenging and it is becoming harder to sit down and do the study.  Life in the country is busy and although it is no excuse that's just the way it is.  I logged in to do an online test the other night only to discover it went for over two hours.  As it was a test reliant on my memory, which is not at its best these days, it would be better to do this one when my brain is not tired. I have nothing but admiration for my classmates who are doing this course full-time and have jobs and family committments.

It is also time to reflect on how far I have come during the last few months. From the first day when I felt totally out of my depth I have learned so much and don't feel out of place on campus any more. Most of the students are so young but there are a few of us in the mature age demographic! I don't sit by myself for lunch every week now - sometimes I sit with my classmates!

My 'book' is still untouched but there are ideas floating around in my head to put down on paper - maybe I will create a character who is studying. We have done some proofreading and I am reading How to Make Gravy by Paul Kelly. It's a big book but a great read.

There is no need to panic!

This last week has been an anxious one. I have been panicking over assignments and wondering what possessed me to think I was up to doing this course. I love my job in the library and don't need the certificate to prove it.

I was booked in to do an exam in the IT subject but I came across stuff I didn't understand while finishing the course work. Ask for help? No. Go into a panic? Yes! After days of stressing I cancelled the test and booked in for some assistance with a teacher. As he explained it to me it all made sense. Should I have asked for help earlier? Yes, yes, yes! So why is it so hard to ask for help?

I don't like being out of my comfort zone and with this course I am. The work needs to be done and I don't like admitting that some of it is hard and I don't understand it. My family are always telling me not to 'overthink' everything and my younger daughter takes pleasure, I'm sure, in pointing out 'you're overthinking it, just give me an answer'.

My husband has been telling me all week it doesn't matter that I don't get it all, I am doing the course to learn and the teachers are there to help. I just have to do my best and pass the course, that's all. It doesn't need to be perfect. Maybe I will listen as last week took a lot of energy to get through and I could have used that energy on other subjects or even relaxing with a good book.

I did read the new book by Nora Roberts but for the life of me I can't remember the name. If I didn't waste so much brainspace on panicking I might be able to remember the name. I did love it though!

Are you studying? How do you manage stressful weeks?

Homework, homework!

I have been doing my course for a couple of weeks now and the homework is getting harder.  Apart from some short courses I have done nothing on this scale for a long, long time and am terrified by some of the assignments I have to do!

I don't have as much time or energy to read or write other than homework. I have cancelled subscriptions to some of the newsletters and blogs I followed as they were piling up in my inbox and had little chance of being read. My 'book' remains untouched and the tv is being ignored.

What I do have is immense pride in myself that I have taken this on and as hard as it is I am doing it.  It's early days but each time I finish an activity or exercise or send in a piece of work to my teachers I feel very proud of myself.

I would love to hear your 'back to study' stories. Please feel free to leave a comment.

One book I did read was In a Nutshell which is the latest book by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly and loved it. I caught the end of  27 Dresses the other night and loved Katherine Heigl and can picture her playing Stephanie Plum in the movie One for the Money.  I must go and see it!

Study time!

I officially start at CIT this week! One of my teachers put a post out to her students asking us to use three words to describe ourselves. At this point I am 'scared and excited'.

I have been working on my first online IT subject and it hasn't been as hard as I expected. I am of course a fabulous Library Assistant and therefore know how to look for stuff so I have been very good at wading through my huge textbook to find the information I need for the quizzes at the end of each topic. Luckily the exam at the end is an open book one so hopefully I will be ok as my memory these days is not as good as it used to be!

I start classes on Tuesday and now must get back to my IT work!

I have just started reading The Briny Cafe by Susan Duncan.

Reading, writing and proofreading in a new year

It's the beginning of a new year and I'm excited.

My CIT course starts next month and I can't wait to get going. It's a bit scary but I'm up for the challenge.

I have started working on my 'women's fiction' story. My Christmas break was spent sorting out my notes from the writing course. I have looked at all sorts of writing websites and there is so much information out there but they all say 'get it written' and that is what I am doing.

As for exercise and cutting down coffee, wine and chocolate - I am trying hard. I have developed a taste for strawberry daquiris though!

I have just finished Janet Evanovich's Explosive Eighteen.  I am in the Morelli camp and wish they would get it sorted!

My writing course is done!

I sent off my final assignment this morning. It was an interesting experience. Finding the time to go through the modules, do the activities and then the assignment each week was the first challenge. During the last five weeks we have had a couple of large proofreading jobs, been to Melbourne for a couple of days and I have worked lots of extra days at the library.

The course was pretty intense with a lot to get through in five weeks. I received great feedback from my tutor and did learn where my strengths lie.

I now have lots of bits of paper with notes written all over them to sort out and I have started rewriting one of my stories which I think has the potential to be a good one. I did give it to a number of small friends to read and they gave great feedback! I also have the outline for a 'Women's fiction' story which came out of one of the assignments we had to do.

This course led me all over the place and honed in on two potential stories which I now will spend time writing, rewriting and rewriting again!

I have immersed myself in Children's and Young Adult books and have loved Looking for Allibrandi, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, lots of lovely picture books, The Famous Five and The Magic Faraway Tree. I have a list of grownup books to start reading when I finish The Famous Five series.