Study Jitters

It’s really not unusual when starting the next phase of study to have the jitters.  Surprisingly mine have lasted a little longer than I had expected and worryingly have got in the way of me truly getting started in any real productive sense.

No caption required!

On Saturday however, with encouragement and help with my travel plans (which I’m hopeless with) from my husband, I boarded the 6.45am train from Inverness to Glasgow to attend a lecture/tutorial in Caledonian University.  Yes, little old me attending a lecture in a real university. I hoped the experience would steady my nerves and spur me on.

I checked the room we were working in and as I got in the lift to take me to the 4th floor I could feel butterflies in my stomach.  By the time I was standing at the classroom door with my hand on the door knob my stomach was lurching uncomfortably.  I turned the handle and walked in.  That’s when it all changed…….

The tutor was friendly and welcoming and it turned out that there would only be a small group of us working through our anxieties attending the tutorial.  There were polite ‘hellos’ and amazement from the other local students that I had made such a long journey (4 hours) down (and would make the same one back that evening).

By the time we had our first comfort break things had began to feel, well comfortable actually.  I was not alone in my anxieties I learnt from the other students and many are juggling just as much as me.  The common denominator is that we were all in search of the same holy grail – a BA/BSc (Honours) Health and Social Care.

With the tutorial under my belt I had faced my anxieties, gathered a huge amount of relevant information which would allow me to get the first essay under my belt AND importantly I had linked up with some valuable study buddies.

Feeling light of heart and with a spring in my step I left the tutorial to head back to the train station.  As I got close to the station a young man dressed in only a Darth Vader mask and his underpants skateboarded past me.  Nobody else seemed to bat an eye but I smiled so much I even forgot to try to take a photograph.

As I sat on the train Mr Darth Vader Skateboarder Man served to remind me that we’re all different and we need to believe enough in ourselves if we are truly going to follow our passions.  I thought to myself how blessed I was that the trip had reignited my passion for study and fortunate that my passion wasn’t in fact skateboarding in my underwear.  Study for me is infinitely more do-able!

'With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy (Darth Vader)

So today, as I open my books to get cracking, thanks to the tutorial and Mr Darth Vader Skateboarding Man I truly do feel that ‘The Force is With Me”