I didn’t get the usual Christmas is over and back to work feeling that I normally do in January this year, but that was because I spent almost my entire holiday doing uni work! I was writing a conservation management plan for a historical grave for my Managing the Past unit, and when I wasn’t doing that I was busy revising for an exam on Ancient Egypt (that seemed to go well, so was worth the days spent revising and all the highlighters I got through). It’s become very clear that the third year of your degree really is a step up, whether it’s in terms of work load, difficulty, or just the feeling of pressure that builds up. Knowing that my grades this year count for 60% of my degree is a scary thought, coupled with the uncertainty of what I will be doing when I leave university in the summer adds a lot of pressure.
Despite all this, I am really liking my third year (honestly!), it is a step up in difficulty from 2nd year but I am enjoying the challenge of embarking on a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic I am interesting in and having more freedom in my essay choices. I spend much more time in university this year (even though this term my lecture hours have halved) whether I am working in the library or in the study room in my department building. I enjoy being in the library and getting on with work; the quietly academic atmosphere makes me feel like a ‘real student’ and encourages me to do my work, rather than doing just about anything to distract myself at home.
In my last blog entry I talked about how I was considering applying to do a primary school teacher training course; I’ve made some progress with this by volunteering in a local school near my house in Birmingham, which was challenging but fun and really insightful in to how a school is run day-to-day and how rewarding teaching could be. A lot of people have been surprised by my decision to go in to teaching as it seems quite far away from my degree in Archaeology; however my degree has given me many opportunities to work with children (before Christmas we took some secondary school children to Stanton Drew Stone Circle, for example). It has also taught me many transferable skills that I could take to teaching, including the confidence to present my ideas and skills in researching topics to create a wider base of knowledge.
So after the initial January exam panic, things have calmed down and resumed to normal university life. Although I’m still spending a lot of time doing work, it’s nice to have the freedom again to read about things outside of my course and to enjoy spending time with friends before all the work piles up on me again!
Orla
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