And so it begins (again…)
Well, it has been a busy first week of semester 2, 2016 and there is still another day to go until it officially ends! By 6 pm this evening I had met all my new classes for this semester- and there is a massive contrast between the courses I’ve taught before and the new one I’m starting on for the first time this semester, but that’s half the fun and thrill of teaching!
To add a little extra to the general Uni anxiousness, the energy on campus is high as people run around making last minute changes to what (I’m not exactly sure), students furiously confounded by the illogical building placements whilst trying to find their classes and market day today at the Campus Heart was adding extra noise and confusion to the already raucous humdrum, with groups singing chants and oversized Jenga and chess games being disputed, and almost successfully drowning out the blaring DJs as the food trucks were doing a roaring trade – phew.
And amongst it all, I have been trying to keep sane and succeeding quite well. I learnt my lesson well last semester, and I’ve not taken on such a heavy teaching load, but enough to keep busy and pay the rent (just). I been making progress on parts of my Early Candidature Milestone (ECM) report (due Feb 2017) and have a supervisors meeting in 2 weeks (mid-August), which will mark my first six months part time since commencing my PhD.
It is a busy time, but I am a lot more settled than this time last semester. I have work completed on my Literature Review and have been getting better at finding a sustainable balance between work, researching and riding.
I’ve been missing riding most of all lately due to the cold weather putting a dampener on my motivation to get our early on the bike and a seemingly non-stop run of family and friends visiting one after the other. It has been great do see them all, but I have genuinely craved some quiet time and have been looking forward to the routine of the semester to have that regular structure to fall back on to. And please, bring on the warmer weather!
The cold, the socialising and the crazy build-up to Uni’s first week is enough to turn anyone to the drink – which, it turns out, is also reminding me to get back out and actually ride one, as opposed to just researching about it. In the last two weeks with all the visitors and family coming through, it has been delightful to see that bicycle culture has been warmly embraced as evidenced by the beer and wine that graced our tables recently.
It has been lovely to share a love of bikes, good food, good company and festivities – but from now on; it is most certainly back to work!
Good luck to all for the new semester! I’ll drink to that and riding!
