Personal Blogs

Woke up this morning to my TMA02 results.

100%

WHAT! I never thought it possible to achieve this on assignments. It certainly has never happened before. 
Going into Christmas Break has left me with such a good feeling about the first half of this module, making me hungry for more! 

I'm not quitting yet and doesn't look like I will be kicked off any time soon. 

There isn't a negative feeling in my body right now. Just pure shock and that little feeling of being proud of myself. 

Hey all, 

Its been a while since I posted and what a whirlwind few weeks it has been. 
Went to work, kids in school, I finally factored in time to get my arse into a training schedule - all normal right? Then suddenly...childcare closed, nursery school closed due to the Covid virus rearing its ugly head within our community. I had to stay home with the youngest so no work and then Covid entered our school - and so close to Christmas too. After much discussion and pondering we decided to take the boys out of school until the New Year. With sports cancelling training until the new year too - there was no way I was going to risk the boys bringing anything home and ruining the one day we are looking forward to after the shitty year we have had. 

Some may say I'm stupid, some may say I'm taking care of our family  - in my mind it is simply daft to risk being put into self isolation if a case comes out in my class. I'm on second week of isolation as it is with youngest and I cannot afford another 14 days again on top of that. The down side to this is that I was advised to get my eldest tested as I have taken him out of school and considering he seems to have developed a cold of some sort I'm starting to think (hoping and praying he doesn't) has a possibility of testing positive. 
However, today saw the beginning of the vaccine roll out. The swiftly made and tested vaccine... hmmm! Do I trust it? 50/50

50% trust the scientists and their ability behind it and I totally believe that is is possible to create a vaccine so quick
50%  I don't trust the companies and government. They are greedy, self obsessed, careless and have no sympathy for anyone. They have spent the whole of this pandemic making rules for others and not even following them themselves. That frustrates me!!!
Anyway, I'm not going down the line of talking politics.

This week marks the 10th week into my degree and the submission of my second TMA. Due the 10th Dec - but submitted 7th Dec. Being off work last week actually was a bit of a godsend in relation to my course work as I got the TMA done, checked and sent in good time. Rest of this week is now to chill. 

Reflection week next week before Christmas break and then the beginning of Part 2.  
Half way through my first year already.  
Lots of revision now to brush up maths before attempting iCMA. 

So my training is stuffed, my work is probably done until the new year, my course work is pretty much done now so all I have left is to kick back and relax and try and entertain the kids for the next few weeks. Roll on Christmas. !

Christmas is coming and It almost marks the end to the first quarter of my life as a student. 

How am I feeling today?
A bit nervous! Things started so well  - amazing score on my first TMA. Managed to push my first iCMA score up with hours to spare. Now in between TMAs and preparing for number 2 to be submitted. 
But, I have found these last few chapters hard to deal with. Algebra, equations, formulas  - now did i ever learn and remember these during my school days? I'm finding myself spending less time in my amazing office space I set up pre study that I was so excited about simply because I fear the maths I have to do and do well in. 

Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself. Other students keep trying to keep me up beat - " keep going, you will get it" , "once you click, it will be easy" , "keep practicing" - where am i going wrong?

I do all the above but all the methods are getting mixed up. Mixing up the solutions or not simplifying enough. I start off good then hit a brick wall and can't figure out the final steps. 

Fractions are still killing me when they are introduced in equations. 

Despite this, I did see the light a little today and managed to actually get some answers right when rearranging equations. But still lacking confidence! 

Back to real life and we managed to survive another birthday - although the cake isn't going down half as fast this time round. My eldest turns 8 today! And he had, what he calls, a birthday treat - SCHOOL CLOSED! 

Yes our school closed today suddenly after a fear in the spike of new covid cases in the area and the Local Authority can't decide on the action to take. This morning it was just for today - now this afternoon it's for tomorrow as well. Schools on the border county have closed for 2 weeks and I fear this is what is lurking around the corner. My 8 year old joining me in distance learning. 

Poor little 3 year old I have - just started nursery school and getting into the swing of it - then this. Can't believe we are back here again with majority of local shops closing due to positive cases all traced back to pubs having private party! Bunch of selfish irresponsible idiots. 

Right that's enough - going for a glass of wine!

Returned to my study space today after a couple of days off celebrating my youngest sons 3rd birthday. No studying - too much cake. Ooops! 

But hey it all good, just keeping my nose ahead of the weeks. 
Shock revelation today - ALGEBRA is not quite as bad as I feared. Although I fear it will become more complicated over next few months, but learning to enjoy it. 

This weeks aims are to stay ahead of the weeks and push hard as we have another birthday celebration next weekend with my eldest son turning 8. Where does the time go!

More cake and more party food. Cant say no to that. 

Working my way through these weeks seems to be going slow but the time seems to be going fast. Saturdays come round way too quick when I should begin the next weeks chapter. 

Managed a gym session Friday - OMG first time in a gym since February. Achy muscles as a result so no cycling/running. 

Good news though - Rugby is back in action this week again. Cant wait to get back to training again, just hoping we can keep going for longer this time. Please no more lockdowns. Getting fed up with it now. 

Feeling for my English friends going through theirs as it really does suck! 

Time for a lunch break I think... mustn't forget to eat while studying. I get so into my work, time flies and before I know it it will be getting dark. Guess that is what happens when you are so into your studies. Still early days!

Wooo feeling good this weekend. 

Managed to get out on the bike for a good few miles Friday and Today. 
Fresh and much needed. Still, doesn't help me consolidate my maths but all I could think of was all things engineering while out. Thinking about how the little cogs and shifters work, thinking about how many joules of energy burnt, how much wattage I'm producing. 

Moving on this week with studies and being back in work. Lockdown almost over again. 

Hope I can keep this momentum up. 

Nice glass of red with a beef dinner tonight and a close on the study time in exchange for family time. 

SHOCKED! 

TMA01 mark - 95

Cannot believe I managed to achieve this with all the doubts and panics. OK so that damned maths question let me down - that one I was pondering on and over thinking about way too much. 
But to get this mark... I will take it!
However, the down side - I may have set the bar too high!

Had a day off following the result - a well earned day off too. Stress levels were building too much leading up to the feedback.  
Nothing exciting really I could have done seeing as we are in LOCKDOWN! 
One more week to go then restrictions will lift again - in time for me to finish my Christmas shopping hopefully. Then that will be it - no need for shopping trips for the rest of the year. 

We have really missed not going away at all this year - would have had a few trips in the camper over summer and by now we would have been planning our trip away for Christmas winter wonderland, shopping and getting in the mood for it all. I can only hope we will have a near normal Christmas gathering. But first, we have a little problem - mine, my husband and our 2 boys all have birthdays before even thinking of Christmas. 

Trying not to think what else is on (or not on) in my life and continue studying the best I can. Learning more about myself each week and delving into the past to discover why I failed so miserably to get a decent education. Was it the teachers, the system, peer pressure or just me and my attitude towards it all. 
Time will tell as this course is going to push me way, way ,way out of my comfort zone and challenge me beyond anything I have ever faced before. 

Physical activities have once again this week been near non existent, with no rugby training and the fear that the season will be cancelled really put a dampener on things. The weather hasn't helped either. Even for the kids things may not start back up again after lockdown. Nice to see the end to the awful six nations that Wales had. Really need to sort it out - gutted that W.Gatland left - wishing we would have stayed forever. Felt a bit sad for A.W.Jones on his record breaking cap and no fans to celebrate with. But we are Welsh and we will return and make that comeback that we know we are capable of. 

This evening has been well spent revising mathematical stuff. 

Squares, cubes, roots and notations - courtesy of open learn. 

I must say I am finally getting over being so doubtful and feeling much more confident. 

It may take some study time away from the week, but If it helps, I'm definitely sticking to it. 

I think I may just about be OK during this first year. 

Maybe! 

It's LOCKDOWN here in Wales again. Roads quiet, nowhere to go. Perfect time to study - MATHS - Arghhhh! Why?

What on earth made me take a math heavy course. We are only just getting started. 

Stuff I should know, stuff I should have covered in school - GCSE stuff. why am I finding it so difficult to rack around in my brain for those little clues that helped me get through those my exams?

Even looking at GCSE/A level revision books is making me think - there was no way I knew how to do all this to sit an exam. 

Oh yeah - it was over 20 years ago and I have had 2 kids since then. Brain mushed!!

Evenings are getting harder to concentrate and I find I don't have enough time in a day to revise.

Something has to change - revamp of that study plan. 

Although, I do have a maths tutorial on Wednesday - hoping for some lightbulb moments there or it will be 1:1 tutor call for me. 

Despite somehow getting 86% in the iCMA so far - I was too heavily reliant on the books with me. 

TARGET: iCMA51 = minimum 90% with less use of the books. 
I have just over 2 weeks to get myself up to speed and I'm a week ahead of schedule. (Hope to get week 6 out of the way this week as well) then that will give me some good groundings before I return to work - if kids will ever leave me to get a few hours peace during the best time of the day to study. 

No longer a TMA virgin!!!!!
That's my very first TMA submitted and gone. How am I feeling?

Bloody nervous.....took a lot of talking myself into actually sending it in. So many things to think about and ponder. 

However, now that I have done it, i can get back into my next few weeks reading, note taking and MATHS!

Preparing for my first iCMA. 

Next hurdle, next challenge lined up and ready to go.....once I finally get some peace. 

Spend all day today in my cave typing up my very first TMA. 

TMA01 - almost done. Just that little niggly mathematical problem left to do and I am ready to submit. 

Feeling positive this evening after my stress yesterday. 

Shutting down on a high for quality family time. 

The weekend has once again flown by. The crappy weather didn’t help. 🌧

Got some good bit of studying done, but I am severely actively frustrated. I.e: I haven’t run, cycled, hikes or ridden a horse all week ☹️ Managed to get to rugby training though in the rain and mud and thoroughly enjoyed it. 🏉 Sluggish in the morning when I should be going for my runs, weather not helping matters. 

Must try harder this week or I will slip into worse bad habit. I can’t not do exercise. 😬 love food way too much! 

The evening drew in and I found myself abandoning the sanctuary of my office and dedicated study area to the bedroom with my T192 book and a glass of red just to get away for the noisy kids. 😫 They are driving me insane this evening. Can’t get peace to read in this house sometimes. 

Still Feeling a bit lost as my first TMA submission date is drawing ever closer. 

Still unsure of how to set things out, the depth of knowledge/research required and to successfully get a decent mark. I just want to do well regardless if this TMA doesn’t count towards my final grades - at least I know what I’m doing to an extent. 

But that the joys of studying at home with a family.  

Onward and upwards