THE ROAD TO HIGHER LEARNING .....

 Well today is the start of a new beginning for me .... studying.  I've enrolled in a Bachelor of Behaviour Studies (Psychology) through Open University Australia and my first subject is "Learning and Communication Behaviour".  I picked the easiest subject first as I didn't want to tackle anything too hard at this point.  Decided to start in the shallows before jumping in at the deep end.  They suggest doing this subject first before doing any of the other subjects as a way of easing into the degree and study in general.  Good thinking I say.


I have been excited about doing this subject and degree ... that was until today when I went online to have a look at what I needed to do.  Yikes ... shock to the system ... so much to learn, not the least of which was firstly how to navigate the website.  Looking through the website was a bit of a challenge ... navigating it was somewhat of a mine field.  Hope I have some hair left after this week.  Needless to say with perseverance I did it.  I haven't conquered it entirely, but a few more times on the site should see me beat this challenge. My new motto is I WILL CONQUER THE UNI WEBSITE.

I really want to enjoy this experience.  I want to keep on top of my assignments and that's the plan.  I know that I'm capable of doing this.  There are of course the usual little niggles of doubt, which I'm sure is normal.  The discussion boards have been full of new students expressing confusion at what they need to do, and the feeling of being overwhelmed at this point in time.  It seems I'm not alone in my feelings.  Phew, thank goodness for that.  I don't feel so alone after all.  You know how it is, you start to wonder if you are the one with the problem, but then when you find that many others are feeling the same way, you realise it's the general consensus.  Except for those that are doing their 2nd or more subjects.


There are so many messages to read on the discussion board .... I can't keep up with all of them, so I chose just a few that I can keep track of.  


What has really surprised me are the varying ages and circumstances of the participants.  Some are young  without children, some are young mums, some are working and in their 30s and others are mature age students like me.  Some only left secondary school a few years ago and others haven't studied for many years.  I figure that we all have a lot to learn and a lot to offer.


So what am I learning out of all of this ...... that things are still a challenge at any age and that I'm not alone in my learning challenge.  You're never too old to learn ..... one guy is about 70 years old.  That there are lots of others students out there willing to help you and give suggestions.  Find some other students to study with ... to bounce your ideas off and for them to give you feed back and ideas.


Will update from time to time on how I'm going at Uni and how I'm progressing with the study.  Now for my first tutorial on Thursday.


Yay to Higher Learning.