Infinite Diversities

I finally got all my grades from university. There was some industrial action going on as the lecturers don’t get paid enough for the job they do, so our grades were not released until the day before yesterday.

I got a Pass for Research Methods, a Credit for Psychological Applications and a Distinction for Psychological Health & Wellbeing. Guess which was my favourite class? The one I got a P for. Seems ironic that the class I like the most is the one that I found the most difficult.

Can’t wait for next year, semester 1: Psychological Development, Abnormal Psychology and Drugs and Dependence.

I am slowly getting used to being at university again after a month’s break. Even though this is my second semester, I still feel like the “new person”. But I like it there, I like having something to do and I like to hand in my work when it is completed. Otherwise, I have a general feeling of mild panic about the work I have to hand in and the social vibe that is a constant there.

I have one friend that was in my Foundation Unit last semester – she shares one lecture with me for our Psychological Health & Wellbeing unit.  Art/Creative Writing is her major whereas Psychology is mine. So the Psychology unit she is doing this semester is an elective. I don’t have electives as there are so many psychology units. My path is mapped out except for the type of psychology I want to do which I haven’t decided on yet.

I have one huge assignment for Psychological Health & Wellbeing that is due at the end of semester and it is a Self-Management Project. We have to improve something in our lives and I have chosen study skills as mine are pretty rotten. They are all over the place and I don’t get things finished until the day they are due in which does nothing for my anxiety. I was rotten at studying at high school (which explains the Fail grades) and I don’t want to repeat it here because I actually care about what I am studying. I want to please myself as to how I do at university. So this experiment on myself should help me gain better studying habits. I have already chosen two interventions to use.

I have handed in one assignment for Psychological Research Methods (a.k.a The Psychological Horror of Statistics) and have another to hand in next week. We have covered measures of central tendency and are now up to z-scores and statistics and t-scores. I am slow at understanding it but I do get there in the end, I just have to be quick enough to get there before assignments are due in. I have a feeling my last assignment didn’t go so well and am dreading getting it back.

For Applications of Psychology, I have to give a 10 minute presentation next week about registering to be a psychologist. I am thinking that I find it difficult to speak for one minute let alone 10 minutes. So I have found the pile of forms on the internet that have to be filled out if a person wants to be a psychologist (there are pages and pages). As we are not able to use Powerpoint (I still don’t understand why) I have to convert photocopies to overhead projector pages. I think it will cost a lot. But it will be worth it if I show these to the class instead of talking for 10 minutes straight. I will say a few things. Maybe, “If you don’t like filling out forms then Psychology is not for you.” I am really not looking forward to the presentation and will probably feel sick, dizzy and light-headed but I have to go through with it.

This is all I have to say today – I have to go to a lecture in about ten minutes.

The end of semester one is close. After this week all I have is exams left.

I got an email about exams that I wasn’t expecting. I know my exam papers are going to be grey (white gives me a headache if I look at it for a long time). But what I didn’t expect was for my exams to be in a different room to everyone else. There will only be a few other people having their exams in the same room as me. So there will be minimal distractions.

University Equity must have notified the exams office about this. I am grateful. I was wondering how I would handle sitting in the gym (which is the biggest space in the uni) with hundreds of other students trying to concentrate.

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In other news…

I got a Credit for my Psychology essay. I don’t know whether to be sad or glad! I also handed in my essay about quantum mechanics yesterday afternoon. Recently I have thought if someone treats me as if I am simple (which does happen), I will start talking about quantum mechanics. I know a fair bit about it now.

Also…I have tried a search for my blog using Google. No result. I guess this blog is so new that Google hasn’t found it yet.

At uni….

**Why is it that when some lecturers set up their powerpoints, it is as though they have never seen this technology before and they have to get students to help set it up?

**Why is it that Mac users at uni have to tell everyone that they use a Mac? So what? They are computers. Computers are very common at university.

**Why is it that wherever there are whiteboards, there are always permanent markers nearby for people to use?

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I know how to get permanent marker off a whiteboard, btw.

I will add more questions when I think of them.