Student Blues

[dhunt]

Thanks guys & gals :disapint: Yu've made good valid points. I guess I'm just feeling a bit bogged down cos I have 6 essays/asignments due in the next 4 weeks and then f*ckin' hell exams, as well as 1 final essay! I feel like I'm always behind the 8 ball, there never seems to be enough hours in a week to actually study as well as do essays and actually take in anything I'm learning!

Hey I forgot to mention, summer holidays aren't very far away. I'm really looking forward to them. Summer can't come sooooonnn enough. Summer=No Study=Riding + Work = More relaxing + less stress

David

[Mr Skid]

Something's radically wrong here. You studenty types shouldn't be getting stressed out - that's supposed to happen to middle-aged white collars who have been working at meaningless jobs for so long they've forgotten what freedom and fun are... In my day students might get temporarily depressed becaused they failed a paper or something, but they'd just go out and get drunk or go on a protest march or join a new club and the next day the world would look good again. Looking ahead to the future meant making sure there was some money left over for Saturday night's party...
It's really sad that the most exciting years of your life have been turned into anxiety-filled drudgery. Of the various sacrifices made in this country over the last 20 or so years on the altar of the god of economic efficiency this is perhaps the most unforgiveable.
I can't offer a solution except to encourage you to hang in there.

As for me, impending redundancy opens up the possibility of becoming a full-time student again next year, if I can work out a way to survive on about $50 a week. Or even if I can't. Sometimes when opportunity knocks, you've just got to open the door...

What happened a couple of years (IIRC) before I started Ak Uni was semesterisation. Previously you could go to lectures in the first few weeks and last few weeks, sit the final exam and pass the course. You could spend the rest of the time drinking away your course related costs and student allowance at Shads, as you had no internal assessments to worry about.

Nowdays, most people are keen to get into uni, and get the hell out, rather than enjoy the experience of being there. As for protests, you might find a few hardy souls at Victoria uni still prepared to make some mischief, but no one really cares too much at auckland uni. There will always be a core group of fanatics involved in the students association/sociology department, but your common student has little understanding of the country's political climate, and is happy to accept the status quo as far as tertiary education issues stand.

These points notwithstanding, if you come back to tertiary study I'll still be happy to buy you a beer in Shads and reminiss about storming university buildings and my on campus dealings with police as a young impressionable 18 year old

[SPman]

What happened a couple of years (IIRC) before I started Ak Uni was semesterisation. Previously you could go to lectures in the first few weeks and last few weeks, sit the final exam and pass the course. You could spend the rest of the time drinking away your course related costs and student allowance at Shads, as you had no internal assessments to worry about.

You still had to pass terms...I tried that - had to repeat maths 1 thought - no sweat, I 'll just turn up to the last few lectures of the first term,,,,,,they changed the sodding syllabus...new maths....sets and things....so that fucked that year . had to goout and do a few more protests!

Nowdays, most people are keen to get into uni, and get the hell out, rather than enjoy the experience of being there. As for protests, you might find a few hardy souls at Victoria uni still prepared to make some mischief, but no one really cares too much at auckland uni...............

These points notwithstanding, if you come back to tertiary study I'll still be happy to buy you a beer in Shads and reminiss about storming university buildings and my on campus dealings with police as a young impressionable 18 year old

Well, my son got arrested at Massey last year, storming university buildings ...so theres still something happening down there, but, Aucklands just a big, conforming,souless, degree factory, these days!

[Mongoose]

yep, what the others said, sounds like you need some "me time" to do what YOU want. OK, you're like me and not got a lot of dosh but that does not stop Ya having time out, go visit someone, splurge on some gas and go for a good ride. I am sure there would be a KBer give you a nights kip if you go for a looooong ride.
Just remember to look after you
Cheers

[Slim]

Don't forget that your student "blues" may also be compounded by simple biology.

Spring is here, finally, and the days are getting noticeably longer, at last, and your body will finally be getting enough sunlight to make you a happier person.

NZ Herald Story this weekend

So just hang in there for another couple of weeks, and you might find your outlook getting better.


In the meantime, take even just an hour out & do something for yourself. Soak in a bath with a good book, the phone off and a bottle of wine, or go for a ride to a nice cafe & have yourself a coffee & muffin, or any number of other free or cheap solutions to your problem.

[Ms Piggy]

Awwwwwww shucks Thanks again.

[Holy Roller]

Don't forget that your student "blues" may also be compounded by simple biology.

Spring is here, finally, and the days are getting noticeably longer, at last, and your body will finally be getting enough sunlight to make you a happier person.

NZ Herald Story this weekend

So just hang in there for another couple of weeks, and you might find your outlook getting better.


In the meantime, take even just an hour out & do something for yourself. Soak in a bath with a good book, the phone off and a bottle of wine, or go for a ride to a nice cafe & have yourself a coffee & muffin, or any number of other free or cheap solutions to your problem.

Sure your student blues aren't winter blues as Slim said. I heard on radio pacific the other night that there is a formula to take that helps minimise the yuck feeling associated with the winter blues. Thompsons put out a product called mood manager avaliable in all good chemists as the blurb goes, all natural products. It may help but if symptions persist.......
only one though you still have to study.
Gordon

[jrandom]

I heard on radio pacific the other night that there is a formula to take that helps minimise the yuck feeling associated with the winter blues.

Damn tootin' right there is.

[Ms Piggy]

Sure your student blues aren't winter blues as Slim said. .

Yes could well be, I am a sun lovin' gal and I've been neglecting my walks lately...hmmmmm, now that I think about it I didn't actually even go for a swim last week.

Ok better get into it!

[Posh Tourer :P]

Damn tootin' right there is.

Ethanol? I would hope you'd combine that with summat else, say dihydrogen monoxide, and various other distillate products of Triticum/Vitus (whichever takes your fancy).

Otherwise it'd become a fairly permanent solution to winter blues.....

Part of the issue can be something called "seasonal affective disorder" which is to do with your body not getting enough sunlight at the right times - there are qquite a few processes in the body that require sunlight as a trigger. Also a few that require some exercise to help things along. I suspect that regular exercise speed up your metabolism, making you feel more awake (and eat more)

[MikeL]

I don't recall you mentioning whether or not you'd done a PhD already, Mike. But surely, by now, you'd have enough material to construct a thesis in virtually anything within the humanities or soft sciences with both eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back. And a doctoral scholarship at Auckland pays $20K a year plus tuition, and only needs about 20 hours a week, if the amount of stuffing around that most post-grad students engage in these days is taken into account.

No, I don't have a PhD yet. My Mum always wanted me to be a doctor, and it's now or never.

I did actually start a doctorate years ago at a French university but ran out of money (and enthusiasm) with it about 2/3 completed.

I'll look into the possibility of a doctoral scholarship and that combined with some part time teaching might be enough to get by on. The satellite TV might have to go, though. Just don't suggest that I get rid of one of my bikes...

Main problem is to decide what to do it in. The psychology of religious belief, perhaps??

[mangell6]

Ethanol? I would hope you'd combine that with summat else, say dihydrogen monoxide, and various other distillate products of Triticum/Vitus (whichever takes your fancy).

Otherwise it'd become a fairly permanent solution to winter blues.....

Part of the issue can be something called "seasonal affective disorder" which is to do with your body not getting enough sunlight at the right times - there are qquite a few processes in the body that require sunlight as a trigger. Also a few that require some exercise to help things along. I suspect that regular exercise speed up your metabolism, making you feel more awake (and eat more)

That "dihydrogen monoxide" is dangerous stuff, hundreds of people die each year from inhaling the stuff. Did you know that it is also the largest component of 'acid rain'.

[Milky]

Often it seems hard to get motivated, but if you can manage it, do a full week of late nights/all nighters to get your assignments out of the way. You will thank yourself so much when the due date approaches, and you only have to fill out a cover sheet or do some spell checking before you hand it in. For me anyway, stress is a great motivator. I seemed to get so much done in the last few days before an assignment was due, and I thought to myself "why not give myself a due date BEFORE the actual date, and bust a gut to get it done then?" It does make a difference... Spread your workload as much as possible.
I imagine you might find it hard being a mature student at Uni. For me, there are heaps of like minded people of the same age/same interests/same situation, and I guess it would be a greatly different social climate for you...

[vifferman]

That "dihydrogen monoxide" is dangerous stuff, hundreds of people die each year from inhaling the stuff. Did you know that it is also the largest component of 'acid rain'.

It's a wonder that in D'Auckland they go on about pollution, traffic, etc. and yet entirely neglect to pay proper attention to the problem of excessive amounts of dihydrogen monoxide in the air. Plays great havoc with trying to ride a bike safely.

[vifferman]

Damn tootin' right there is.

That's all very well, but it's also a notable depressor of the central nervous system. I have a feeling I will probably have to stop self-medicating with it, now that my liver's had such a hammering from less pleasant medications...
But Friday's still on, regardless. Unless....