Seniath’s Blog

[A little over a year ago, before this place even existed, I wrote the following note over on Facebook. I'm republishing it here with some "one year later" comments for, well, shits and giggles to be honest. Plus I imagine most of my readership would have missed this the first time round.]

Anyone who’s spoken to me recently has probably heard me say “that’s on my list” or “god, that’s why I hate being a student”. So, in an effort to avoid revision stress, I decided to compile said list. They’re in no real order. Except No. 1, I hate exams.

1. Exams. ‘nuff said, really.

   Aye, this was never really in question was it?
   

2. Not having a real place of my own. Student housing is always temporary. The prospect of having more than one room is totally alien to me. Every time I go to Ikea, I pine for the day I can pay a proper visit (as opposed to just going to buy a pillow or a posh lamp) and actually buy stuff. Oh, and a cat. I want a cat. I miss Minnie so much, even to this day.

   Ikea is the bane of my existence, And I LOVE it. And while this flat isn’t really *mine*, it is so much better than ruddy student halls. Being able to have guests round and not be entertaining them in my bedroom is a particular joy.

3. Student culture. Nothing but drugs, booze and late night partying. Never really been my thing. I’m aware these things still exist in the real world, but not quite at the same frequency. I imagine spending three years in halls has left me especially bitter about this.

   “Student culture” has been replaced somewhat by white-collar trappings. Trips to the pub tend to be quiet, civilised affairs. Normally because we’re all so gorram exhausted.
   

4. Inconsistency with respect to workload over the year. For someone with my work ethic (i.e. mounting deadlines are the only motivation), a year of Uni looks something like this:
   • 3 months of summer holiday, doing bugger all.
   • 11 weeks of lectures, comprised of 2 weeks of “argh deadlines” work levels and 9 weeks of “dum de dum no deadlines” work levels.
   • 4 weeks of holiday, stressing about upcoming exams (but not revising until the last week).
   • 2 weeks of exams, full of lots and lots of work.
   • Repeat ii-iv.

   My work ethic would be much better suited to a steady stream of work. Plus, it’d make the time off more worthwhile.

   I still have some problems with motivation at work; I’m fine if I’ve got something definite to do, but finding work for myself is a skill I’ve yet to really embrace.

5. Constant assessment, in one form or another from year 6 onwards. So that’s what, 12 years of assessment. Which is, you know, fun.

   The concept of “assessment” at work is such a wholly different beast to the uni mindset. Not down to how much I can remember, just what I can actually produce in a real-world setting.
   
   

6. Learning. Or rather, being taught. I’ve come to understand that these are two very different things. For every good module there are 5 bad ones. And don’t get me started on the state of a final year computing degree at Leeds, module wise.

   I probably learnt more about “Software Development” in my first month at EMIS than in all the SE modules I took throughout uni. As for the final year, well… I honestly can’t remember a darn thing about Knowledge Management, User-Adaptive Systems or Natural Language Processing. Not that I’ve ever had need to, either. Preparing me for the real-world my ass.
   

7. Exams. I really can’t overstate this enough.

   See 1.
   

8. Friends. I know what I’m like. If I don’t see someone on a regular occasion, I drift apart, even if I have them on MSN or Facebook. Which is tragic, really.

   I’ve actually managed to stay surprisingly well in touch with my friends from uni. Lately I’ve been seeing people most weekends and occasionally during the week. I guess it helps that Chris et al live nearby, and Dan is actively leaving the house for social activities these days. Yet to make any new out-of-work friends, but then, where would I have?
   

9. Constant moving. Having to relocate around 6 times a year gets tiring. Especially for someone like me who likes being settled.

   Ahh, being settled. I’ve already blogged about this recently, so I wont say much else here.
   

10. Not having a real Christmas holiday. I may be an atheist, but I still like to spend time with my family over the Christmas holidays. And not being able to relax 100% during this time for the last 6 years wasn’t fun.

    Christmas just gone was the best holiday I’ve had in around 8 years. No joke

So, roll on May 31st, really.