Who’s idea was this? Silly me, several months ago, mentioned to Linda that I would like to do a degree in ancient history. Just one of those throw away lines, a thought bubble which careened over the precipice of my mind and swept, without control into my throat and enunciated itself without the usual safety guards which usually emanate from the brain and thankfully grow stronger as you get older, kicking in. Thus, the thought was out there and Linda, like the household knights who acted on behalf of Henry II who bemoaned to himself that no one would rid him of this meddlesome priest-the Archbishop of Canterbury in his case-took it upon herself to enroll me at the University of New England, her old Alma Mater in Armidale. Thus I have found myself an online student at 47. And isn’t it fun. Not!
I’m enrolled in a Foundations course and a unit in Archaeology(!). The Foundations course is a bridging unit designed to give those without the academic qualifications to attend university a pathway into a degree. The archaeology unit is simply one of the elective units you have to do alongside the bridging unit. It was more appealing than some of the other courses of study on offer. To paraphrase Gregory Peck in the “Guns of Navarone”; I’m in it now, up to my neck!
Linda, an ex-teacher has always been sure that once I started I would enjoy learning but I have to say a week in and all the anxieties which bedeviled me as a teenager at school are manifesting yet again in this aged version of myself. A lack of interest and motivation and a wandering mind are the most potent disabilities which seen to impede me. Just like Year 10 all over again!
I really think some people just aren’t cut out for academic learning. I like reading, writing and historical texts but trying to master the techniques of writing an academic essay really does leave me cold. I can’t say I hate it yet but I have to sit down and read some compulsory papers this afternoon and that may really stretch my patience quota and interest level.
Never fear! I will push on. There is only one way to improve myself and find a way out of the employment quagmire in which I find myself engulfed. Study. Education. Linda is sure that once I get into subjects I really find interesting then I will find myself to be more enthusiastic. Unfortunately I have to get through these qualifying rounds first.
My saving grace at the moment is that I am in the first week of a five week period of leave. I can be a little more casual with study-as long as I get it done!
So, time to get away from writing a pointless blog post and into some more serious academic stuff. Time to remember why I sort mail for a living. Only one way to move forward. Study time-here I come!
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 