|
|
|
|
|
My Learning Experience Blog - by Nicky Washida
#11 January brings the snow... and another assignment on the go!
(To find out why Nicky is writing about her own learning experience - click here)
|
January brings the snow…..and another assignment on the go!
Well, this has been kind of a crazy month as months go!!! On January 9th, Granny #1 left to return home to the UK after 2 months in Japan and we are all really missing her, especially me! My “Wheel in the Grannies” strategy has been working really well, and I was able to get around half of my Emerging Business Themes assignment done before she left.
A few days later, Granny #2 arrived on a plane from Osaka, a bit like a knight in shining Armani wielding a Louis Vuitton handbag in lieu of a sword (this is not as posh as it sounds, ALL Japanese women have LV handbags! I have one too, but mine came from Bangkok and they spelt “LV” wrong.) However, I don't think this granny had any idea just how chaotic life is when you are raising 3 kids, including a newborn, in a tiny 2 bed apartment, while your husband is away on business and you are working on your final year of a degree. Despite her heroic efforts to feed us all (solidly, for hours at a time, over 7 days - the woman is basically a demon in the kitchen!) she unfortunately caught a cold and went back home earlier than planned. Well, it wasn't so much that she “went” – more like she was airlifted out of here! As brilliant and helpful as she was, and as happy as she claimed to be that she was here, I swear she left scorch marks on the floor as she departed and I can't say I blame her! I imagine even as I sit here and type that she is cowering in a corner of her peaceful haven back home in Osaka, imploring everyone there not to answer the phone in case it is me summoning her back here again!
However, before she left I was able to pretty much complete the bulk of my assignment, and the rest was completed by a complicated maneuver involving typing with both hands here at the laptop whilst simultaneously knocking the baby rocker with my left knee – the only way to keep him asleep at the moment!
So – miraculously enough, with grateful and eternal thanks to The Grannies for all services rendered, and more by luck than judgment, I seem to have managed to complete and send my assignment for module 3!
More good news – I got my results for my module 2 assignment submitted in October, and it seems that I have passed and I am still on the course! Not that they would kick me off anyway – if you fail you do have more chances to re-submit and pass a second time – but it is one more tick in the box and one more step forward to graduation.
February brings the rain…..and back to module 4 again!
 So what now? Barely time to catch my breath – which is difficult anyway right now as I have inherited Granny #2's cold – and I am off pursuing my plan to study both module 4 (Financial Decision Marking) and module 5 (Marketing Strategy) with a view to sitting both of these in April.
I started studying the Finance module a little while ago, and then abandoned ship temporarily to get the assignment done. Worryingly enough when I returned to the notes I had already made and revised them earlier this week I had NO clue what I had written and how I had come up with the calculations I had already done! Obviously they were written in a fog of newborn-just-home-from-the-hospital numbness, but after substantial review I am starting to get the gist of things again. I have already had to call on the “Finance Guy” (module tutor) more than once for help and he has come back every time with the speed and consideration of one who knows and understands how knee-knockingly scary this module is for the majority of us.
The Marketing module I am finding really interesting already. It seems to be closely tied to Strategy, but more from a Marketing perspective, so a lot of what I am reading is very relevant and applicable to stuff I have already covered.
I have – as usual – a spreadsheet devoted to how much I need to study each week to get both these modules completed before the deadline. Of course, as I mentioned before, I am great at the planning side of things, not so great at the actual achievement of these plans within deadline and to-budget – but so far so good, and when your nights are so unpredictable (2 nights ago I was up ALL night but last night I managed 4 HOURS!!! A new record! Yay!!!) you kind of have to live a day at a time. Or to be even more specific, 6 pages of a lesson at a time.
Still on course
It just occurred to me as I sent off my assignment for module 3 that I am now officially "Half Way Through". How on earth did that happen???!
It may seem a little crazy to you that I am going to attempt 2 modules in one hit at the next sitting, given my circumstances. Believe me, it seems pretty off the wall as far as I am concerned too! But the module 4 assignment is actually a 24 hour open-book exam, so, although those 24 hours are going to be tough, once it's over, it's over. The rest of the time I will be working on my marketing assignment, and best of all – Granny #1 has just sent me an email to say she will be back here at the end of March and her visit will cover this April assessment period. It`s going to be tough, but hopefully do-able, and if it all becomes too much – there is always my get-out-of-assignment-free card.
I am told by my wonderful and helpful (not to mention stunningly attractive, funny and talented) Best Friends that I will one day look back on all this and laugh….so, as I promised them all both credit for all their help and encouragement and a mention on this blog – Mel, Catherine, Helen, Jun – are you SURE about this, guys??!
In all seriousness – anyone who thinks distance learning is lonely is in for a surprise. This is just NOT something you can do alone, especially with children, and the more support you have around you the better, even if it entails your 5 year old changing her baby brother’s nappies. When you start something like this, make sure everyone around you is either on board with it, or can be bribed with your Apple-Cinnamon Crumble-Cream Surprise (I speak from experience and the surprise is that I can actually cook it! Really! I'm a great planner but my culinary skills suck!)
Next month – an update on the progress of my hand-eye-left knee coordination, and whether it has enabled me to master the finer points of Marketing Strategy and Financial Decision Making (which unfortunately up until now in my life hasn't been much more complicated than Latte or Short Drip? Galaxy or Fruit and Nut?).
Watch this space……
>>Back to blogs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
