Personal Blogs

My last blog post seems a lot closer then well over a year ago! There's been a lot of changes since, firstly I'm happy to report that I finished and passed MU123, was a bit of a struggle at times - mainly to do with time/work commitments - but got there in the end. I did enrol and start T207 in October 2015, sadly this coincided with me purchasing my first house although it was great to finally get on the property ladder - this had a severe effect on my study. It had such an effect that I eventually had to defer my place and will have to start again later on this year, its not the ideal situation but something that couldn't be helped and something that I wouldn't change if I had the chance. The workload for the house and University, plus work, proved to be too much and sadly it was my uni work that had to suffer, I found my self falling behind and struggling to keep up, this lead me to basically skim reading through the textbooks and not really understanding the text. So after speaking with family and my tutor I came to the conclusion that due to me not being able to give it my best, then the best thing to do would be to defer my place. So here I am in a bit of limbo at the minute, I have enrolled for T207 to start in Oct 2016, and lucky still have all my textbooks so will be able to get a bit of a head start - once I have found the motivation that is! Just a few more minor jobs on the house, probably find more along the way, and then I can start to look at the textbooks again. 

Will try to not leave it as long before my next blog entry, I have found this to be helpful in the past and did enjoy writing it, it is available for everyone to read - but I know no one actually does haha! 

Looking forward to, finally, getting the house finished and then continuing on my journey towards my degree.

Cheers

Anthony

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First day back at work today, luckily a bit of a slow start so have been able to catch up with the work I should of done on Unit 6 over the Christmas break, had a serious lack of motivation to do any work whilst i was off, this and having new golf clubs to play with. Thankfully I did manage to do small bits here and there so this morning has just been touching up small areas of study, starting the practice quiz etc. Looking at it now I have to work through sections 4 and 5 of Unit 6 and then finish off the quiz and then do the relevant questions on the TMA and iCMA, then can get on with Unit 7. Hopefully I will be able to get all this done before the weekend (10/01/15) this will keep me on track with the website. I have got two study sessions in place for two evenings at home, and going to continue to bring my stuff with me to then do work on my dinner break, or when get quiet moments. Work doesn't seem like it will pick up this afternoon, got a little bit to do after dinner but nothing major, so hopefully will be able to do more study this afternoon. Looking forward to getting into more of a routine, lost track of days over the Christmas break, so hopefully work and my study will help me settle down.

Enjoying my study at the minute, currently looking at things I have studied before but got a bit more information this time so understanding it a bit more, maybe I have just forgot bits from the past. In terms of work nothing has changed in terms of this not being a long term job, recently downloaded Revit 2015 which hoping to learn more about when get some free time. Whilst still in construction this was the next best thing in terms of software and with more and more companies requiring people with knowledge of it I felt it best to get this now and start to look into it. Can do a course in this but currently this is financially not an option. Luckily being a student pays and can get a free 3 year licence from autodesk. Had to buy a new laptop to download this but got student discount on that as well

Looking forward to finishing off Unit 6 and starting Unit 7 and completing another TMA, there is light at the end of the tunnel

Not done much on Unit 5 since my last post, work has started to pick up again and seems to be full steam ahead, plus a bit of Christmas shopping was needed to be done. But have managed to get up to subsection 3 so almost halfway there, and with the planner on my OU homepage i'm still ahead and on track to get Unit 5 and most of Unit 6 done before xmas, hoping to have an extended xmas break. Got a trip to London on the 19th so hopefully will all be done for then, also got a day off on the 8th so can spend majority of this day doing some study, weather permitting might try to fit in 9 holes of golf. 

Finally got my result for TMA 01, felt like was waitng an eternity for it, suppose that was due to me handing it in early for a change lol, but was worth the wait. Was very happy with a 93 and some of the comments my tutor made on it, hopefully my good marks will continue. Have completed iCMA 42, struggled with a few bits on it but hopefully will have done ok with it, I think at some point I thought I was doing the practice quiz and had another chance to answer, but think it went okay will just have to wait and see in my result.

As said work has started to pick up again now and getting more and more work coming in so hopefully it will continue. Still don't think this is a long term job for me, been doing a few extensions for friends and i enjoy doing more constructional stuff more than what I'm doing at the minute, so think once I have got christmas out the way will start to look and see what jobs are out there, had the dilemma of being offered an interview for a structural engineering company last week, but turned it down due to me feeling that 2 and a half months isn't long enough for me to have tried this job long enough and also with me doing a civil's degree I think it best I try and get a job in civil's.

Will hopefully get the chance to do few more posts before the break, looking forward to what the next few units have to offer.

Have managed to complete Unit 3 of Book A and have started my TMA 02, for now have just done question 1, covering unit 3, just pencilled it in for now and want to look over it again later and after i have had my next lecture. Also made an attempt on question 5, this covers unit 5, but my past work in MST121 etc. allowed me to make an attempt at this as it was a bit similar to previous questions that i have done. Again i will look over this once i have studied unit 5 and had my lecture, but i am quite confident i have done it correctly.

Work has been a bit hit and miss lately, which has allowed me to get my study done sooner, has been a bit annoying to be making progress in learning new things and to then just grind to a halt but suppose that's the way it goes sometimes. Have actually applied for a job in Manchester this morning, for a structural technician position, feel this will tie in more with what i will be studying in my degree, although i am doing civil engineering, it will be better for me in the long run to stay in a construction field. Hopefully will hear something back soon.