So, since I last wrote, I’ve completed the taught part of my BSc. It was stressful. Very stressful. Statistics continued to be fun, and I have developed a love affair with SPSS (a statistics program). Economics stayed easy, I managed to bash out the assignment, an essay, in a couple of nights.
The exams were dreadful. I didn’t really put in a lot of effort, I wasn’t really in a studying mindset. We haven’t got our results back yet, but I’m not anticipating great marks for the second of our two exams. I didn’t really write very much. It was a new feeling for me, staring at a blank page and not knowing what to say. The really scary thing is I didn’t much care, either during or after, that I had tanked it. It’s unlikely that I’ve failed, and for once I actually meant it when I said a pass is enough.
There’s a slightly odd marking system in place to determine our degree level. Or at least, it seems odd to me because it isn’t what’s done in medicine proper, but it could well be how other, ‘normal’ degrees work. So far, every grade I’ve got back has been in the 2:1 bracket. I’m perfectly happy with this. I decided at the beginning of my BSc that I wasn’t going to bust a gut to get a first. Oh, if this was my only degree I would be; but I decided that I’d rather have a good time for a year and get a 2:1 ,than be miserable and get a first. So far I’m right on track to achieve both my aims.
Tomorrow I’m driving up to Inverness to begin my research project. Quite apart from the ‘exciting’ state of the roads between Aberdeen and Inverness, due to the recent cold snap, I’m not particularly looking forward to being up there. I’m excited about starting my project and about working with my supervisor, who seems amazing by the way. What I’m not looking forward to is being up there, away from Aberdeen. I’m going to miss archery training, just when I’m really starting to see the improvements in my technique paying off. It’s thankfully a quite time for the Wilderness Medical Society at the moment, but after Christmas I think I might miss some great stuff. I’ve made some great new friends in both of these societies, I’ll be sad to leave them behind.
However it is with a generally good spirit that I set off tomorrow, knowing I’ll be back in Aberdeen soon enough, and that Christmas is just around the corner.
