So close, yet so far

I write this post as I am part way through listening to a lecture for a class. 'A lecture? But it is Saturday night!' you say, 'Not to mention that the semester has not yet begun.'

Well of course, it is Saturday and classes do not begin until Monday!

This semester I am taking an external subject for my International Relations major. The course is run out of my university, but has students from other parts of Australia and all around the world taking part. I'm quite excited about it as it allows me to be quite flexible. While I still have to wait for each lecture to be recorded and uploaded, the lecturer plans to upload his lectures on Fridays and Saturdays. Rather than tutorials, we have a weekly blog entry which we write based on the assigned readings. My hope with the subject is that I can take the time now, before my law courses destroy any hope of a healthy study-life balance, that I can get right into my readings for the next few weeks. If I am able to be ahead of the game early on in this course, I feel like I will be able to work well in my other courses.

While we aren't required to write an entry for the first week, I obviously have a bit of an interest in blogging so I have been reading up on the marking criteria.  Our blog shouldn't take a personal or opinionated stance on any theory and must be scholarly. We also have to stick to around 300 words! I have no idea how I am going to be able to stick to such a low word limit! We are able to post multiple entries, though only our first contributes to our grades, so I can't see that posting multiple entries will be vastly beneficial, other than creating a good study tool later on.

With students all around the world, a conventional exam is not a possibility. In it's place we have a take-home exam. It is a 2000-word essay which we have 72 hours to complete. Based on the information I have seen thus far, we may get some guidance beforehand as to the topic. While I don't like to admit it, I am like most other students so 72 hours to write a huge essay shouldn't be too bad. I'm a little unsure of how I will tackle the time frame at this stage as the 'exam' takes place over days that I have classes! Do I focus on getting the essay done and ignore my other classes or do I continue on as a normal law student! The decisions!!!

Although I technically have not begun my time as an external student (for one subject at least), I'm almost positive that it is going to be a great experience! I'm not the biggest fan of our tutorials, something which I will write about in the coming weeks, for numerous reasons. One of the reasons is more to do with my bad luck and lack of skills in choosing the great tutorials. I have a tendency to end up with tutorials scheduled hours away from any other classes and I make the effort to get to university and the class is a huge let down, although not so huge as it only goes for an hour. The blog that my external class has allows me to actively participate, by both having my opinion and engaging with others, without being such an inconvenience.

Okay, maybe I don't mean inconvenience, but the flexibility is great! If I have an essay due on Wednesday, I can do my blog entry on Thursday night or Friday Morning. If I have nothing on the following Monday, I can partake then. The blog is going to allow me to be in control of my learning, at least part of it.

If you are a regular reader you probably wouldn't be too shocked to read that I am already looking for more external courses that I can take. Yes, semester has yet to start but I just know it is going to be a good one.

I haven't jinxed myself at all, have I?