University Life

So tomorrow is the last day of week two of my university studies. It's certainly been an interesting ride so far!


I have to mail off my first maths assessment to the lecturer & I'm going to do a favour for some friends on Friday afternoon, so I need to make sure that the paperwork is ready by 2pm at the latest - wish me luck!


I have to admit I am finding using the student portal and the blackboard a little challenging. For instance, the student portal is where I receive all emails relating to my studies & today I couldn't get the email signature function to work & I tried several times & yes I do know how to do this! So, after trying for more than 20 minutes, I sent an email to the lecturer to explain what is happening & ask if maybe there was a compatibility issue with the uni email system & my laptop [I have vista - enough said]. Then, Vista decided that I needed to restart my computer & after I logged in again I found that the email signature was working - yeah! So that problem was solved.


Also, I've been having a hard time trying how to work out using the blackboard properly. The blackboard is the place where students can *talk* to each other, post assessments for lecturers & share information about themselves, study & anything else we want to dish.


So far, I've shared who I am, where I live, basic details about my family, what I think I want to study in 2010 [if I pass] & the parts of the course that have been challenging. What I have not told them is that the other day I got so upset about not understanding what I'm suppose to be doing that I ended up yelling at my lap top - yes I know I need to be committed - LOL!


On the whole, I am starting to get a little excited about this new adventure - when I originally applied I wasn't sure I would be given a place in the course & then once I knew I had a place I was scared that I wouldn't be able to motivate myself enough to finish the work on time. I am studying as an external student & my *classes* are via text book or on-line - so you have to be really self disciplined & for anyone who knows me well, they know that I've been trying to loose weight for over 15yrs & I still haven't really got anywhere with that; so I was worried that I might waste this opportunity.


The past few days have given me a sufficient "kick in the butt" about the course & the amount of work involved - you see I've had a few computer issues & there have been a few other challenges [read earlier posts] to cope with; so unfortunately I let myeslf get slack & didn't actually start doing any serious work until the beginning of this week. Which meant I was a week behind right from the start - eik!


Thankfully I am all caught up - except for the assessment but I'm going to work on that on Friday morning - I don't have any interviews scheduled for Friday so I will have sufficient time to complete the task.

On the job front, I had an interview today for a position as an administration assistant at a hearing aid clinic - the job sounds very interesting & of course I would need to learn their computer programs. The next step is they are going to check my references [hopefully they will get a good report] & then make a decision on who to give the job to. I also have an interview scheduled for next Thursday as a retail assistant in a new store, which will only be a 5 minute drive from home. So wish me luck that I will get the job that I am suppose to have & if perhaps it is not one of these two, then something else will come along.


See, I am trying to be more positive about things & more positive about life in general. I think I've finally realised that although staying positive is not easy during difficult situations but if you try to you often find that something good will come out of it, even if it is not the thing that you want but it will be the thing that you need. So, on that positive note I've included below a colourful, bright & happy image that I found on this amazing website stock.xchng where once you join you have access to royalty free photos - you might just have to mention the photographer when you use them [but not all the time]. The photo below is by a brilliant photographer Zela from the Netherlands :)


So, take care & enjoy the image.

Ciao
Mish :)