Day School

For the first time since I started with the O.U., I was able to go to a day school today!

To be fair, it was the combination of my disabilities, and the distance needed to travel to one, that has always prevented it before but, this last week, our tutorial group was informed that there would be a day school relatively nearby, in the University of Aberystwyth.

It was with some trepidation that I got on the bus this morning (7th), and started my journey, but I was joined further along the route by another lady from my tutorial group, and so we spent our travel time 'talking shop', so-to-speak! :)

It seemed no time at all that the bus arrived at the stop in the town, and we got off with just enough time to get ourselves a lovely cup of coffee, before the linking bus came that would take us to the Uni.

We were both nervous, being total novices at this sort of thing but, in no time at all, we found our way to the senior common room, where we were to meet the rest of the attendees, as well as the two tutors who were holding the school.

By the time we were due to start, there was a lovely group of seven students, plus the two tutors, and we began with a joint discussion on autobiography, which lasted until lunch time arrived. In that time, we had written some exercises that involved the Life Writing section we were due to begin on this weekend, where we were given an option to write, and where we then took it in turns to read out what we had written. It was a great way to get to know each other a little, and we all enjoyed listening to other people's viewpoints.

After lunch, we divided into our individual tutorial groups, where we discussed biographies, and also did some more written exercises. This was great fun, as there was almost a one-on-one relationship with our tutor, which meant that any concerns or questions were answered as we needed.

We then joined up once again as one group, and the discussion turned towards our forthcoming TMA 04 - and also the ECA (End of Course Assignment) which is our final assignment but which, we were informed with no doubt at all, we needed to start work on now, if we were to give it the full benefit of time needed. Our ECA is weighted for 50% of the course marks so, as you may imagine, it is vitally important for us to make sure we give it our best work!

With all the in-depth discussions, the hand-out notes, and the question and answer sessions, the day school was well worth the time, effort, and pain, it cost me to go there, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I left there, much better armed with what I need to do, than I had been before - and there was the added bonus of being able to put faces to names with both tutors and fellow students!

I am now so much more confident that I can tackle this next section, if not with total ease, then with a clear idea as to what is expected of me and my work. Well worth the effort!

By the way, I still haven't got my 03 results back yet, but will be getting them some time next week! When I do, I'll be posting them here for all to read.