And now for something completely different…

I thought I’d take a break from my reviews and make a post about something completely unrelated.

Today is one of celebration and commiseration, tears of joy and tears of disappointment; Results Day. I honestly have no idea how well I’ve done this year. There have been a lot of ups and downs in regards to studying. Hopefully more ups than downs, but again, I’m not entirely certain. If the coursework results I’ve had back so far are anything to go by, I’ve managed a 2-1. I’d be happy with that, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.

It’s also that time of year where I’m sure every student tells themselves “I’ll try harder next year.” I know I do. I plan everything out in my head. “I’ll do this many hours of studying a day. I’ll read  x amount of critical work per week. I’ll finish all my coursework at least so many days before the deadline.” Then the new year arrives. I start out with good intentions, do some wider reading, I’m really interested in the course. Then a couple of weeks in it wanes. As the work begins to pile up I’m less motivated to do it. But this year, I’ll try harder. Really.

But I’m rambling. Back to results. It’s the exams I’m worried about. At the time I felt good about what I’d written, but now I’m having doubts. I’m sure it’s just nerves talking. I hate exams. I don’t see the point in them at all.

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They really don’t represent the capabilities of anybody. Being asked to write about at least five texts in three hours without referring to them is unrealistic. Not only do we have to remember relevant quotes from the texts themselves, but also relevant critics. And the topics are completely unknown. True, we can guess what kinds of themes will crop up in exams, but it’s still asking a lot. In what real life situation am I ever going to have to write about a text where I can’t have access to it and therefore have to do it all in three hours from memory. That’s all exams are; memory tests. I’ve never learnt anything during an exam. It’s just regurgitation.

I much prefer coursework. I don’t mind the extra work it involves since I can take my time over it. I can read extra things to fill gaps in my knowledge, or build on what I already know. I can revise what I’ve written to make sure it’s the best way to put what I’m trying to say. I actually learn things when I write essays that I didn’t know before writing them. Exams don’t offer that.

[/end rant]

With that off my chest, I’m leaving in ten minutes to collect my results. Wish me luck!

Confidence in My Abilities

I’m in a brilliant mood today.

Not only is sunshine filling my room, but I got my results back from my Creative Writing assignment, and they were better than I had expected.

I know that I could have worked a lot harder on my portfolio than I did, but at the time I was very stressed and just wanted to get it out of the way. At most I was expecting a low 2-1.

However, when I looked at the results sheet, it said I got 70%, which means I got a First! True, it’s right on the border, but still, a First is a First. I was shaking with excitement when I left the office.

I’ve read through the feedback, and it only served to boost my confidence further. The poetry lecturer here is Luke Kennard, a very talented young poet who’s been published a fair few times. It was really encouraging to know that he thinks my poetry was strong and effective. I was also happy with the comments on my prose, and it makes me realise that I do have a reasonable amount of creative talent.

Now I know what I can do when I only put in what’s required, I’ll try to over-achieve from now on. If all goes well, I’ll be graduating with a First!

Am I getting ahead of myself? No, it’s just ambition. Yay!

Results, Birthday, & No Films

This week has been interesting, if a little quiet.

It’s the third week of my semester at university. On Monday, I got my results back from my French Tandem module, and did better than I expected. I wasn’t expecting a lot. But I came away from the office rather happy with myself.

Wednesday, I stayed on campus after my morning lecture (I’m coming to the conclusion that studying Wilde at 9am really isn’t good for me) and went to the LGBTQ coffee meeting. It was fun, and I met a few new people. I stayed with people until about 16:30, when I finally got home and pretty much collapsed.

The next day I had my Editing seminar, where we got split into our ‘editorial teams’. Essentially, these are groups of five of us who have to work through poetry submissions and select some to put into an anthology. Having read through them, it’s going to be harder than I thought. Sadly, none of them seem to jump out at me as being a poem with potential. It might take a few read-throughs with a fine-tooth comb to pick out the ones that need the least work. I’m not lazy. It’s just that the vast majority are pretentious crap.

That evening, my housemate and I went out for a pub dinner and a few drinks. Well, a lot of drinks. It was a fun night with just the two of us. A ‘bonding session’, if you will. I’m sure all kinds of dark secrets were told that neither of us can now remember. Alcohol lubricates the tongue, as it were.

And then we come to today. I spoke with my parents on Skype. They’re doing well. As are the cats. Cookie (aka Derek) is the youngest at about 4 months old, and had the snip on Tuesday. It’s not made any difference to his boisterous behaviour at all; even when he came home from the vet’s he was bounding around and generally annoying the older cats as usual.

It’s Dad’s –th birthday on Wednesday. He and Mum are going to Las Vegas for a few nights to celebrate. On his actual birthday they’ll be going on a trip around the Grand Canyon in a helicopter. It should be an experience for both of them, especially Mum since she’s afraid of heights.

This evening I decided that I’d go to the LGBTQ film night, where they’re screening ‘Paragraph 175′, a documentary about the persecution of LGBTQ people during the Holocaust. Sadly, only four people turned up, and then the staff at the Guild couldn’t find the remote control for the projector. Typical. So we decided to leave it for the night. It’s a shame, since I rarely go to these things.

Oh, and it snowed quite heavily whilst I was out. It was bizarre to get back from campus to find the ground covered in a light dusting of snow. It’s nowhere near as bad as it has been, but still surprising how much has settled.

Anyway, now that I’ve bored you enough, I’ll leave this update and get on with some reading. And maybe some writing. I’ve got some ideas itching to get out. Farewell!