So this week has been a nightmare of a week.  I have had two pieces of written work to submit (one of which contributes towards my grade directly and the other indirectly) and a group presentation to prepare for.

Now, those of you who have been following my tweets will be aware of what’s happened regarding the presentation, but for those of you who have not here is the low down on the disaster.

Last week I received communication from my group presentation partners that they were beginning to get worried as we had not yet met regarding the presentation.  I wasn’t overly worried as it’s not the most complex pieces of work in the world:  three people to prepare and deliver as 5-7 minute presentation on a given case.  We arranged to meet on Wednesday this week, and that’s where the nightmare started.

We had arranged to meet at 11:30 on the Tuesday morning.  As I was making my way into University I received a text saying they’d over-slept and it would now be 12:30 before they got in.  Fair enough, we all run late from time to time so I altered my plans and arrived at the University at 12:30 – they eventually turned up at 1pm.  We located a room to do some work in and it was then they announced they hadn’t even read the case (in fact they hadn’t even pulled it from Westlaw).  So I gave them a quick rundown of the case and we agreed who would do what.  They left saying they would read the case that evening and we would meet up the next day after the lecture we have in common.

We’re now on Wednesday and I fail to see them in the lecture.  I take my seat in the middle and the lecture begins.  The two hours pass and as I’m packing up I still don’t see them there.  As I leave the lecture theatre my phone goes off with a text saying they wouldn’t be coming in at all that day.  Great!  So, some texts go back and forward and we agree to meet at 1pm on Thursday afternoon for a couple of hours before my class at 3.

Along comes Thursday and at about 12:15 I get a text saying they now wouldn’t be in until 2:30.  I send them a text back reminding them that I have a class at 3, so 2:30 isn’t really a suitable time.  More texts go back and forth and we agree to meet at 9am on Friday (3 hours BEFORE the presentation) – by this point I am somewhat glad that I spent Wednesday evening preparing material as a last resort for the entire group so that we would at least have something to present!  I make it clear in my texts that I’m not impressed and that they had better not be late in the morning as to get to the University for 9 it means getting up at 6 and leaving just before 7.

I type this on Thursday afternoon so, whether they turn up or not (on time) is still to be discovered.

My essay has also been a bit of a nightmare.  I finished it in plenty of time and had edited it and such like.  I left the house in time to get onto campus with a hard copy of my essay.  I get to the train station and onto the train and bring out some work I still had to complete for the same module.  It is then as I’m flicking through the booklet and suddenly I remember:  my new University requires both electronic and hard copies to be submitted by the deadline (my last University required you to make available, upon request, an electronic copy of the essay – usually only requested if they suspected you of some kind of academic misconduct).  I then remember that my electronic copy is on a USB stick at home.  Panic sets in – I simply don’t have time to get off the train at the next stop to get home to collect it and get back to the University by the deadline of 12 noon.

My (computer illiterate) mother is at home and I decide the only option I have is to phone my mum and see if she’d be willing to attach the file to an E-mail and send it to me.  When I phone her she freaks out as she has no idea what I’m on about.  So I spend the next 30 minutes taking her step-by-step through the process of retrieving the file from my USB stick and attaching it to a blank E-mail…thankfully it works!

The next problem is that the building in which the bulk of the Law School is situated has no student IT access, for that (and most classes) we need to head to one of the main buildings on campus – they are a good 10 minutes away from each other).  So, I arrived on campus 35 minutes prior to the deadline and begin the inevitable hunt for a computer that’s not being used!  I was lucky; as I entered the library FIVE became available all at once.  This saved me a huge amount of time (and never normally happens).  In the end I managed to submit both the electronic and hard copies with 15 minutes to spare.  Not the closest to the deadline I’ve ever submitted an essay (once submitted one with literally a matter of seconds to spare!)

It’s the “Mid semester break” next week, which means no classes (and for most students, except Law and Nursing students, a full week of relaxation).  However, I have two essays due in during the first half of the following week and an abundance of reading left to do, so I’ll be kept pretty busy.

Despite all the stress, drama and long days I’m still enjoying every minute of my Law degree and being back at University!

Well the second week of the new semester is almost over.  My timetable looks very light, but it should not be underestimated.  I have spent a large number of these supposed “free” hours in the library pouring over case law and statutory provisions in order to really get a sense of what is being said in lectures.  Not only that, but the first of my weekly seminars takes place this week, resulting in even more reading to allow me to fully and effectively prepare for that.  What little time I had left was mostly spent on eating and sleeping.  I have found the odd spare hour here and there to hang out and as they say “chill”, but these have been few and far between and normally I’ve found myself being far too tired to really do anything!

It’s been four years since I last had a normal semester that has been unaffected by personal troubles and this resulted in me forgetting how much work is involved in the studying of Law (either that or I’m simply more studious than I’ve been previously).  I remember there being endless reading and analysing statutes and cases, but not this much.  It really has taken me by surprise.  Contract and Delict have been slow to get started as they’re first year modules, but the pace is beginning to pick up.  In Commercial we hit the ground running with several hours of reading after the first lecture.

Following the death earlier this year of the Law School’s normal Delict tutor, they were left without a lecturer for their Delict module.  The solution to this has left a novel teaching approach, which to date I have found quite useful.  Instead of lectures taking place in the traditional lecture theatre setting, they are being delivered by a lecturer from an entirely different University elsewhere in Scotland by way of downloadable podcast.

I can see many advantages (and some disadvantages) to such a method, but will be reserving my final judgement until the end of the semester once the course is complete and the exam results are out.  One of the more immediate benefits I have found is that my lecture notes are far more detailed.  Being able to pause, rewind and skip through parts of the lecture has meant that I have not found myself mid flow in taking notes down about something only to forget what I’m writing as I try to, at the same time, focus on what the lecturer continues to say.  Instead, I have been able to pause and rewind the lecture to ensure that my notes are full and accurate.  How much benefit this will have come exam time is yet to be seen.  Will it improve my grades?  Will it assist my study?  Will I simply end up with too many notes and waste time cutting them down to allow me to study?  Only time will tell the answers to these questions.

It hasn’t all gone smoothly with these podcast lectures.  We were advised at our one and only traditional style lecture for Delict that the podcasts were available on the University’s online learning environment.  However, not one person could find them:  they had gone missing.  They were eventually found and were available by the following day, which meant there was not too much of an issue.  There are the odd downsides to the use of technology.

With the Delict lectures being by podcast it has created a real need to be organised.  All the lectures for the entire module are complete and can be listened to at our leisure.  It has resulted in placing the emphasis on students to ensure their own leisure is at a pace that ensures they are keeping up and are ready for the written assignment, seminars and ultimately the exam.  With there being no physical timetabled lectures ensuring that you keep the correct pace for the module it will be particularly easy to fall behind.  However, I only really see this being a problem for those who are disorganised (in which case it probably won’t only be the Delict lectures that they fall behind with) and those that wouldn’t normally turn up to lectures anyway.

In saying all of the above I do not want to come across as if I am bored or simply whinging!  I’m really enjoying being back at it.  In fact, I’m enjoying it so much that I nearly missed my stop on the train due to being so engrossed in the ruling of Sheriff Principal Risk QC in the case of Alexandra v Murphy.

I’ve decided that I’m going to really focus over the next three years.  I’ve done the whole “student experience” and now it’s time to settle down and focus on why I’m here:  to get a degree in Law and begin the path towards a legal career.  Don’t get me wrong, I will take time away from the books to enjoy myself – I need it after a few pretty rough years.  It has really hit home though that had I not had the run of bad luck with my health that I would have probably been starting my Diploma this time next year!  However, I just have to remind myself that it was out of my control and that there is not one thing that I could have done about that!

I am looking forward to many more weeks of fun, tears and stress!

Well after what has effectively been a two year break from full-time education I have returned to University this week.  My first classes were timetabled for today and it meant an early start (which I’m not used to).  I was up and out of the house by 7:30 (my normal time for getting up when I was working for the energy supply company was 9:15!).  It’s going to take a bit of time I think to get back into a “normal” day rather than the life of a permanent backshift worker!

From my experience today I think I will be leaving earlier as I only just made it to the lecture on time this morning.  The train was 5 minutes late then I forgot to factor in the fact that the bus route to Campus passes a rather large secondary school, so in the run-up to 9am the road is very congested with the “school run” folk dropping people off at school.

It is possible to walk to the University from the train station, but it takes about 40 minutes and when you arrive in Stirling 30 minutes before your lecture you simply don’t have time to walk it.  Leaving for the earlier train (07:35 rather than 08:05) will mean I won’t have the traffic problems and risk missing the last bus that will get me onto campus on time in the event that the train is a bit later than it was today.  It will also mean that I can save myself some money and walk it to Campus (with the added bonus of some free exercise).

The two lectures I had today were okay, the usual “housekeeping” stuff relating to the module and then some time spent on formation of a contract and inthe second lecture the law of agency was the topic of discussion (both topics I know inside out – it’s the latter stuff in Contract law that gets me frustrated – ironically including frustration of a contract).

There was some confusion which provided a bit of entertainment during my second lecture today.  A group of about 7 or 8 first years clearly had not read everything properly and turned up for a second year module.  The Law School had helpfully sent out an information leaflet to all undergraduate law students with the details of each module running this semester (basic information such as who the module co-ordinator is, the date of the first lecture and seminar and such like).  This group of first year students clearly hadn’t read the leaflet properly and thought they had to attend all the lectures on the list (how they thought they were going to successfully study and pass 12 modules in one semester I doubt I’ll ever know).

I had forgotten the amount of work involved!  I remember there being a lot of reading and research required, but not this much.  Nonetheless I absolutely love being back and can’t wait to get stuck in to all this reading I have to do!

I’ve been rather quiet of late, but I have been really busy with work.  However, I have been busy hatching a plan with regards to my degree.

A friend of mine suggested applying to a University closer to home to see if they would accept me directly into second year in order to finish my degree closer to home given all the health problems I’ve suffered over the last few years.  This friend happened to work in the Undergraduate Admissions department of a University which would fit those criteria nicely.  So, he went about finding out how possible that would be and gave me the names and numbers of the people in the know to contact.

I contacted these people in the know who said it would be possible and the fact that the UCAS deadline had already passed wouldn’t be too much of an issue as my application was for second year entry.  So, I sought references for the University, got a reference from work and got a UCAS application in within a few days of having that conversation.

Today, I received a phone call from this University who advised me that they want to make me an offer, but can’t until their “Deviant Timetable Committee” has met to agree to my proposed timetable.  Although I’ll be second year, due to differences in teaching schedules between this University and Anytown University my first year at the new University (i.e. Second Year) will be made up of modules from First and Second Year.

Having spoken to my friend, who no longer works for the Undergraduate Admissions Office (temp job) I have been informed that 99% of the time this is just a pointless exercise (and because they’ve actually phoned to tell me this) and that I should receive a formal offer in the post and through UCAS shortly after the “Deviant Timetable Committee” has met (who are due to meet on 22 March 2010).

There are many advantages to this.  Firstly, I’ll be living at home meaning my debt will be far smaller than had I continued to study away from home.  Secondly, I’ll avoid having to do a part-time year via Distance Learning and finally I’ll graduate 2 years ahead of when I would have had I continued studying at Anytown University.  I suppose one could add to that having family close by means that if things do start to suffer health wise I have a much better support network available.

I know that SAAS do fund the same year twice if it is a full year and is on medical grounds.  I’m hoping that because my application to study at another University was based on medical grounds will mean that they’ll fund the full three years that I’m studying there.  If not, I am in a position to get the money to pay fees for the 2010/2011 academic year.

So, yes, all very exciting (for me at least)