‘I’m beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel’

Lisa Butchart: For those of you who have been keeping track of my blogs, I suppose I should start by letting you know how I got on with my recent job application.

Breaking through the ‘us and them’ barrier

Lisa Butchart: In my last blog I confessed that my approach to assignments usually involved ‘leaving everything until the last minute’. Well, I am pleased to report that I did indeed break the habit of a lifetime in September. Working together as a group finally forced me to reconsider the merits of the cramming technique.

Breaking the habits of a lifetime

Lisa Butchart: The latest module on my Foundation Degree in Sustainable Communities has thrown up a number of interesting lessons. Not least is that just because a module isn’t of interest to me – on the surface at least – it doesn’t mean it won’t be useful. I’m discovering that the subject matter of an exercise isn’t necessarily the most important element, it’s more about the skills you pick up as you progress through and complete the piece of work. That’s something I really didn’t expect.

Assignments, analysis and action plans

Lisa Butchart: In my first blog entry I wrote that our tutors on the ASC foundation degree in sustainable communities were breaking us into academic life “fairly gently”. After two months I may have to revise that position; the pace having upped considerably in recent weeks.

First impressions

Lisa Butchart: Life as a student again is definitely a case of so far, so good. The plan seems to be to ease us into academic life fairly gently, which is great. At the moment, the emphasis is on getting everyone up to a reasonably competent and confident level in basic skills such as IT and research methods. We’re definitely getting time to adjust to our new life as undergraduates on the foundation degree.