As you, my dear readers, know that last year I had an epiphany and last August I applied at Unisa to study for a Bachelors of Education. I applied online, paid my R150 application fee, sent off the relevent documents, called a smorgasboard of various people to check if everything went through, and eventually after a lot of hair pulling (my own, unfortunately) lost enthusiasm. Not to mention I was starting a new job in January.
January came and went, and it’s now March. I was looking through some of my bookmarked websites and came across the Unisa one. I saw that applications for second semester were open until the end of March. This got me thinking about my Degree Dream.
I decided to call through and see if my application was still applicable, or if it expired after x amount of time. Turns out, it doesnt expire and I am able to register in June/July when registrations open. After enquiring after my need for an Age Exemption, I was told that was another R350 and I could apply for that at registration. Here’s hoping that goes smoothly.
Now comes the waiting part, which I dont do well at. It’s still another two to three months to wait before I can chain myself to no less than four years of essays, assignments, studying and blood, sweat and tears no doubt.
I’m also nervous. My 10 year high school reunion is coming up next year, and that was pretty much the last time I studied. I did Theory of Pet Grooming, but well, that wasnt that complicated (I presume the Practical is a little moreso). So it’s been a long time since I really used my brain, and if I’m honest with myself, I was never the studious type. And that was in school, with peers, and teachers….now I’ll be all by myself and left to my own devices. What if I cant cut it? What if, no matter how hard I try, I cant reach the grades needed? I know, I know. People keep telling me “but this is something you’ll want to be doing, not just school because you have to…”, but there will be boring parts. And assignments. Hell, after researching how to do essays, I’m left quaking in my very sexy boots. All that referencing, and needing to have valid sources and form opinions on subject matters based on findings (that, as I said, one has to reference!). It’s all so much. So different to high school and something I feel so alien in.
My close friends never went to college/uni, and the one friend I do have that did, is really smart and completely unlike me in her discipline for her studies, and I wasnt around her for her uni-attending hours (ok, I joined her at UCT once or twice and even was so bold as to participate in a lecture haha!) and the stuff she studied was so over my head that I never helped her in any way with essays/research. So in a nutshell, I didnt get to experience the whole Uni vibe. I had classmates who went, but I dont socialise with them. So the whole idea of studying scares me.
Also, the particular degree I’ve chosen, requires 10 modules a year. That’s 5 a semester. That’s…ok I dont know how many exams that is (I presume there are more than one exam per module?), but that’s a whole lot of studying!
But, I have 10 years to finish a 4 year degree, so I will at least get started and let life steer me in the direction it needs me to go. However, I would prefer not to start teaching when I’m almost fourty!
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