And Now, The End is Near
It was an exceedingly domestic day after I slept in far too late again! This is becoming a terrible habit which must be overcome - namely setting the alarm clock for 9 or 10am only to lie in bed in a kind of half doze for 2 hours more. I guess that is one of the surest signs of not possesing sufficient self discipline - not being able to get out of bed when you are supposed to.
I have just realized that effectively I have one week per paper remaining in terms of revision time. That is not including practice papers. That has really caused me to enter a stage of severe panic. The one good point is that if I start intensive work NOW I can just about salvage the situation. I can only rue the fact that I was pottering about for the whole of the last TWO MONTHS not being productive in the least, reading lots of random books and so on. I guess I can only remark that it is a good thing that I am managing to pull myself together.
Decided that the best place to begin was at home, so I cleared up the room, putting lots of my books away and trying to create an area around my desk that was far more condusive to studying. I am amazed at how the little things do matter quite a bit, like having a certified work area that is inviting to do stuff in. I then packed away lots of my books, making space for academic stuff and had a good go at sorting out the remaining loose bits of paper. I even swept up the room. I intend to do laundry tonight to top it all off.
The grand plan is to do one paper per week as follows:
This Week: International Relations
Next Week: International Relations in the Era of the Two World Wars
Week 3: International Relations in the Cold War
Week 4: Political Sociology
Week 5: Middle East Politics
Week 6: Ethics
Week 7: Political Theory
Week 8: Knowledge and Reality
Week 9: Start of the Exams
This has come from the fact that I attempted to start revision previously with the papers that I had most disliked, which did not work at all. Hopefully now, starting with the 3 international relations papers which I had enjoyed, I will be able to build up some form of momentum towards the examinations.
Another thing to note: I am desperately short of practice writing essays under timed conditions. I will have to work very hard towards addressing that as soon as I possibly can.
I must admit that this is a period of time where everything seems very uncertain. I have even seriously considered the D word, and was considering speaking to the academic advisor in order to find out options with regards to that.
I have also been looking into the possibility of staying another year in Oxford, but anything taken in that direction will have to wait till after finals.
The cliche is that it is never too late to begin. I shall take that to heart. That, and hope and pray.
I have just realized that effectively I have one week per paper remaining in terms of revision time. That is not including practice papers. That has really caused me to enter a stage of severe panic. The one good point is that if I start intensive work NOW I can just about salvage the situation. I can only rue the fact that I was pottering about for the whole of the last TWO MONTHS not being productive in the least, reading lots of random books and so on. I guess I can only remark that it is a good thing that I am managing to pull myself together.
Decided that the best place to begin was at home, so I cleared up the room, putting lots of my books away and trying to create an area around my desk that was far more condusive to studying. I am amazed at how the little things do matter quite a bit, like having a certified work area that is inviting to do stuff in. I then packed away lots of my books, making space for academic stuff and had a good go at sorting out the remaining loose bits of paper. I even swept up the room. I intend to do laundry tonight to top it all off.
The grand plan is to do one paper per week as follows:
This Week: International Relations
Next Week: International Relations in the Era of the Two World Wars
Week 3: International Relations in the Cold War
Week 4: Political Sociology
Week 5: Middle East Politics
Week 6: Ethics
Week 7: Political Theory
Week 8: Knowledge and Reality
Week 9: Start of the Exams
This has come from the fact that I attempted to start revision previously with the papers that I had most disliked, which did not work at all. Hopefully now, starting with the 3 international relations papers which I had enjoyed, I will be able to build up some form of momentum towards the examinations.
Another thing to note: I am desperately short of practice writing essays under timed conditions. I will have to work very hard towards addressing that as soon as I possibly can.
I must admit that this is a period of time where everything seems very uncertain. I have even seriously considered the D word, and was considering speaking to the academic advisor in order to find out options with regards to that.
I have also been looking into the possibility of staying another year in Oxford, but anything taken in that direction will have to wait till after finals.
The cliche is that it is never too late to begin. I shall take that to heart. That, and hope and pray.
posted by Caleb Liu | 10:59 PM
2 Comments:
I do apologise for having gotten myself into a situation that required your attention and counsel till the early hours of the morning.. :(
I am glad that I didn't end up disappointing you (much? completely?) and managed to settle matters without you having to step in and making a call to Denver direct.
I know that (on some subconscious level at least) you've known for a while that Time is of essence.. and that every waking moment counts.
Now more so than ever.
What can I say?.. I can only tentatively express my gladness that you seem to be (finally) hitting the big red panic button.. but whether or not this spurt of focus, motivation and diligence will last you through till the week finals start remains a major concern.
Whatever you choose to act out in the end, however, Caleb... Know that you'll have my unwavering suppoert in facing finals.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I will try my best to get as much done as I possibly can.
I think the entire reaction is partly panic and partly my regret and not having done any constructive work over the preceeding 8 weeks to now.
I just have to hope that everything will turn out all right in the end.
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