Don't panic!
I start school in T minus 5 days. *gulp*
I've been out of classes for 20 months.
I'm repeating two courses.
Uhhhhh....soooo...you might be wanting to ask me, what am I going to do differently this time?
Aside from wishing I had supernatural studying powers that would make better use of my studying time, I'm going to attempt to employ the following lifestyle modifications instead:
I like to work. I really like my work (err...my "career"). It's gratifying feeling like you found the perfect "fit". I've never doubted my career path since I started university; it's been the university part that has been difficult.
I decided (on purpose) not to take any gym shifts at the fitness centre for the Fall. Let me explain: I work at the SFU Fitness Centre. What I do there most of the time is gym supervision (clean the equipment, make sure no one gets crushed under a bench press, etc) and then sometimes I have a personal training client or two. Personal training wins big time, gym supervision does not. While I have oodles of time in my class schedule to work in the fitness centre, I told them I didn't want to do it anymore.
Not just because I'm repeating my courses, but I'm the kind of person where if I feel like I'm failing at something (ie. school) then I have to feel like I'm excelling at something else (ie. work). This is incredibly bad because then I'm not actually addressing the problem of failing school and I talk myself into thinking it's not such a big deal because "work is going so well!"
So I cut out my desire to escape from school through work.
I should point out that I only told them I didn't want scheduled gym shifts. I'm still on the sub-list, should I feel like my grades are holding up and I am prepared for exams, then I can fill-in for someone looking to give up one of their shifts for a week.
I am still going to take personal training clients (from the university and from my own business separately). I am also getting two RAD career opportunities from the fitness centre as well:
1) They are allowing me to run a pilot project of a disabled persons' introductory fitness class. I wrote up the program protocol and if a certain amount of people register (at least 4, at most 8), then my class gets to run. This is RAD because that's what I'm in school for in the first place. There are so few opportunities for disabled people (students, staff, faculty) to be active at SFU and I wanted to change that. We have a very accessible facility that does not get as much use by this segment of the population as it should.
2) We have a mentorship program that we make all new staff go through if they want to take on personal training clients in the centre. I did the program last year. It's mandatory for all the staff, regardless of how much PT experience they have. When I did it, I had to meet up with 4 other people to mentor me. Currently the program only has one person running it, and so she asked me if I was interested in doing it. Wait wait yeah you heard me, I'm going to get paid to TRAIN THE TRAINER!! I can't even believe what an honour it was to be asked. It means not only do my clients and the patrons think I'm competent but my fellow staff members do too. FUCK YEAH!!! :D :D :D
So even though I'm working less even though I'm doing more, I reckon training + mentoring + my adapted fitness class will only take up 2 - 5 hours a week of my time, at a better pay rate and 1000% more job satisfaction. :D
Aside from the work modification, I'm going to prioritize my life into studying first and socializing second. I'm deciding on my outings for the rest of the year right now:
1) Seacompression
2) Global Warming
3) One psytrance party (if I'm DJing)
4) One time at Organix
5) One Soundproof party
And that's it! Less than that if exams get in the way or if I don't feel confident about my classes.
I also need to not accept "just passing" as an outcome. I have no desire to be a straight-A student, but if I don't set better goals, I'll slack off. I need to put out there that I can be a B-average student for the rest of my degree. Not for the sake of doing better necessarily, because I've so far proven competence is in the delivery not solely in the comprehension, but more so that I have "fuck-up" room. In case I blow goats on a paper or draw a blank on an exam, I want to have a buffer for real life, because it does get in the way sometimes and it's exhausting feeling like every intellectual inadequacy is going to tank your entire academic career.
But of course I'll need some temporary gratification along the way. There used to be Beer O'Clock Mondays...I have class Monday nights, so maybe that will have to be Thursdays. Though I'd rather do something that doesn't cost money. Like come over to your house for dinner. ;) Or wings in New West or something.
I would greatly appreciate "being checked up on" because though I'm not shy about seeking help when I'm having problems, it would be nice to hear from the cheerleaders on the sidelines. Someone to think positively of me when I'm obliterating my brain with mindless memorization. ♥
I've been out of classes for 20 months.
I'm repeating two courses.
Uhhhhh....soooo...you might be wanting to ask me, what am I going to do differently this time?
Aside from wishing I had supernatural studying powers that would make better use of my studying time, I'm going to attempt to employ the following lifestyle modifications instead:
I like to work. I really like my work (err...my "career"). It's gratifying feeling like you found the perfect "fit". I've never doubted my career path since I started university; it's been the university part that has been difficult.
I decided (on purpose) not to take any gym shifts at the fitness centre for the Fall. Let me explain: I work at the SFU Fitness Centre. What I do there most of the time is gym supervision (clean the equipment, make sure no one gets crushed under a bench press, etc) and then sometimes I have a personal training client or two. Personal training wins big time, gym supervision does not. While I have oodles of time in my class schedule to work in the fitness centre, I told them I didn't want to do it anymore.
Not just because I'm repeating my courses, but I'm the kind of person where if I feel like I'm failing at something (ie. school) then I have to feel like I'm excelling at something else (ie. work). This is incredibly bad because then I'm not actually addressing the problem of failing school and I talk myself into thinking it's not such a big deal because "work is going so well!"
So I cut out my desire to escape from school through work.
I should point out that I only told them I didn't want scheduled gym shifts. I'm still on the sub-list, should I feel like my grades are holding up and I am prepared for exams, then I can fill-in for someone looking to give up one of their shifts for a week.
I am still going to take personal training clients (from the university and from my own business separately). I am also getting two RAD career opportunities from the fitness centre as well:
1) They are allowing me to run a pilot project of a disabled persons' introductory fitness class. I wrote up the program protocol and if a certain amount of people register (at least 4, at most 8), then my class gets to run. This is RAD because that's what I'm in school for in the first place. There are so few opportunities for disabled people (students, staff, faculty) to be active at SFU and I wanted to change that. We have a very accessible facility that does not get as much use by this segment of the population as it should.
2) We have a mentorship program that we make all new staff go through if they want to take on personal training clients in the centre. I did the program last year. It's mandatory for all the staff, regardless of how much PT experience they have. When I did it, I had to meet up with 4 other people to mentor me. Currently the program only has one person running it, and so she asked me if I was interested in doing it. Wait wait yeah you heard me, I'm going to get paid to TRAIN THE TRAINER!! I can't even believe what an honour it was to be asked. It means not only do my clients and the patrons think I'm competent but my fellow staff members do too. FUCK YEAH!!! :D :D :D
So even though I'm working less even though I'm doing more, I reckon training + mentoring + my adapted fitness class will only take up 2 - 5 hours a week of my time, at a better pay rate and 1000% more job satisfaction. :D
Aside from the work modification, I'm going to prioritize my life into studying first and socializing second. I'm deciding on my outings for the rest of the year right now:
1) Seacompression
2) Global Warming
3) One psytrance party (if I'm DJing)
4) One time at Organix
5) One Soundproof party
And that's it! Less than that if exams get in the way or if I don't feel confident about my classes.
I also need to not accept "just passing" as an outcome. I have no desire to be a straight-A student, but if I don't set better goals, I'll slack off. I need to put out there that I can be a B-average student for the rest of my degree. Not for the sake of doing better necessarily, because I've so far proven competence is in the delivery not solely in the comprehension, but more so that I have "fuck-up" room. In case I blow goats on a paper or draw a blank on an exam, I want to have a buffer for real life, because it does get in the way sometimes and it's exhausting feeling like every intellectual inadequacy is going to tank your entire academic career.
But of course I'll need some temporary gratification along the way. There used to be Beer O'Clock Mondays...I have class Monday nights, so maybe that will have to be Thursdays. Though I'd rather do something that doesn't cost money. Like come over to your house for dinner. ;) Or wings in New West or something.
I would greatly appreciate "being checked up on" because though I'm not shy about seeking help when I'm having problems, it would be nice to hear from the cheerleaders on the sidelines. Someone to think positively of me when I'm obliterating my brain with mindless memorization. ♥