Twenty twenty five
As we barrel closer to Christmas, and toward the end of the first year of my masters degree, I feel like a spinning coin on a table edge.
Going into 2025 I knew that this year would be challenging, and different to the years leading up to it. I knew that starting a masters program was going to bring lots of long study sessions, huge assignment work load, and a pace that feels like my legs are running out from beneath me. I knew that there would be lots of travel back and forth from Adelaide and my home town (which is about 2 hours away), that was an eventuality and god bless spotify audio books. I knew that change was coming, but I didnāt know the extent of its depth or breadth.
Itās fair to say that the pace of change this year has been unsustainable, and the output I have managed to achieve as someone who suffers chronic pain, with tricky mental health, and while ending a decade long relationship has actually superseded what I thought was possible. I never thought Iād be capable of sustaining a HD average (86%-100% assignment grades) across my subjects at uni, I never thought Iād be capable of feeling as empowered and capable in my studies as I do, and I never thought Iād be able to get through everything that I have this year. I have one assignment left to finish this year (before starting summer school, that is) and I no longer feel incapable or nervous about calling myself an academic. I donāt doubt myself because the results are in the grades, in the way I can converse with professionals in my industry with confidence, and in my ability to actually bring something to the table as I do. Iām looking forward to sharing some of my work here in the coming 12 months, because I think that some of the resources and unit plans I have designed are cool and I look forward to testing and refining them in the field.
The break-up has been interesting. We are still living together until he moves out, which will be the week between christmas and new years eve. We are past the awkward, accidentally calling each other ābabeā phase, and we are past the sadness and discomfort stage. I donāt mind sharing the house with him for the time being, but to be honest Iām ready to have this space back. Thereās so much work to do around here to bring this house to its potential. Iāve been away so much this year that I havenāt been around to tend to it and while my ex has done the bare minimum to stop a rodent infestation, the same canāt be said for spiders, cobwebs and general grime. I wonāt say that I donāt hold it against him because I absolutely do, but I will say that I am ready to fix things and to restore this home to a happy, pretty place. I think I would like to document this journey on ticktock, because I have ticktock and I like ticktock and I want to make some pleasing before and after content because thatās what I like to watch and I think others would like it, too.
Anyway, for now I need to get on with my assignment. Iām looking forward to having some mental load available to post some more things here, soon. Iād like to make a post for each of the subjects that I did this year about some of my key take-aways, some of the interesting research and resources that I came accross, and perhaps some of the essays that I wrote (if anyone would be interested in that). Mostly, I want to do this for myself and for posterity, but I also know that thereās some teachers on here who might be interested to read and maybe chat about some of the posts I plan to make. Maybe we can start some dialogue about it! Iād like that a lot, actually. It doesnāt specifically have to be teachers who respond, either, I just donāt know why anyone else would be interested in discussing education theory, curriculum and lesson planning, or pedagogy.
Feel free to prove me wrong, though. <3