With two weeks until I begin my Masters Degree I cannot help but reflect on my time during my Bachelor of Arts (Major in Psych I will proudly add, if only the peaice of paper said that) and wonder what lies in stall for me over the coming year and a half. Prior to my BA I done a couplt of certificates at TAFE and without sounding cocky it was a breeze, i was able to not only work fulltime and study part time I still managed some semblence of a social life. UNI though was to be completly different. I stepped down from my management position so that I could study fulltime and not jeapodise my studies incidentlythough my first semseter at UNI was something of a holiday, after the years at work and having aleady done three at TAFE I found it hard to concentrate, among other things. nevertheless I studied hard and eventually leanred the ropes of the system and got through it. Most importantly though it was where I met my wonderful partner whom I am incredibly head over heels for, a love that has given us the most beautiful little girl / but that’s another story for another time.
As I reflect on my time during my BA I consider what it was like to be a mature age student. Uni as mature age student is thinking your special because you have gone and lived in the “real world” or some shit. Reality is knowing your just that annoying old guy who says something stupid because his so high on the idea that hes going to UNI he dosent think before speaking. While I like to think I wasnt that bad I sure as hell seen a few who were, that is one of those mature age sudents who think that their life story not only a valid answer but is empirical evidence to a teachers question, one of those mature age students who use class as opportunity to tell their life story regardless of the teachers question. Don’t get me wrong we we’rnt all like that, nah, the ones who wernt were the ones perhaps a little more like myself, still young, but a little cynica because of that so called “real world experience”. You find yourself telling jokes that no ones gets, your young enough to get along with the other students but too damn old to care what your wearing. Too damn young to care if your drinking before class, what? i thought that’s waht UNI was all about, *laughs* I kid, I kid. Still though, I often found myself too olf for the younger students and too young for the mature students, but perhaps that was just me being a snob… nah, one of the things I found hard at UNI was that no one really wanted to talk. I dont speak for all UNI’s and all people at UNI when i say this but some people just seemed too busy being cool to really have a good chat about UNI or whatever, as though they were still hanging on to the politics of high school. You find yourself generally talking about the same thing with most people, I mean I admit it is hard as you often find that as you finally get to know people your in a new class in a new semester, you talk about what your studying what thier studying ,what teachers they have liked and what ones they haven’t, what subjects they have enjoyed and what they havent.
That being said though I met some great people and made some great freinds that I still talk to. I have often surrmised though that it was just down to being a psych student, all the psych kids are too busy working through their demons to be able to talk to you, as I found whenever I took up electives in other schools it was a whole other vibe. People conversed, they spoke up, they spoke out, that being said it was usually the mature age students.
But, I look ever so forward to the year ahead, I know that it will be differnt and I cannot wait. I hope to keep up the posts about my experiences as a mature age student not to mention a teacher in training.
JS.
Jotunn Symposium 