Officially Official!

ok, so I PASSSSSSSED Logic! Thank fuck for THAT!

(only a 4, but still, it's a vital box ticked)

I got 7s for both Phenomenology & Existentialism and Crime & Punishment, so that brings my GPA up to a very respectable 6 for the semester.

I am relieved and pleased.

Had first day of Environmental Philosophy yesterday - this is going to be good! Really interesting, wide-ranging and challenging.

In other news: I have been falling out of love somewhat with my job over the past few months (I've been there on and off for 6 yrs, the 'offs' usually just extended periods of travelling). It's gotten to the point where I dread going there all week. I'm not even really sure why... I mean, I have many regular customers I love seeing, I get paid well, I like my colleagues (for the most part, one or two give me the shits, but hey the feeling is mutual. it happens, no?) but lately I just do. not. want. to be there.

I started scoping out other (non-hospitality) avenues. Getting up at 5am to get the train to uni is hard as hell as it is, without putting a 1am finish in the night before, so I have been checking out daylight hours. I have a trial on Monday morning at my all-time favourite clothing boutique in Noosa (not that I own a scrap from there - I could never afford it!!!) and am thrilled at the opportunity. It's all yummy black European designer stuff in the most awesome fabrics. Love love love! The owner seems very efficient and straight-up and to the point, I like the cut of her jib, and she seems to like me, so we'll see. It's only a couple of days a week, but she seems open to being flexible around my uni schedule which is a bonus :)

I feel incredibly positive about trying to make changes in my life, and allowing myself to prioritise my studies whilst not excessively compromising where and what I do for a crust. I hope it all works out...a change would be invigorating right now :)

cause for pre-emptive celebration

unofficial grade for Crime & Punishment course is a 7!!! whooo hooo!

(official grades released Thursday)

of course, in reality the greatest use this will actually be is to drag my GPA back up out of the gutter where it will be lying after my disastrous Logic debacle. ;)

in other news:

i have enrolled in 3 courses for semester 1 2011:

Communication and Rhetoric (part of my Logic & Philosophy of Science Minor)

Political Philosophy (part of my Philo extended major)

Medical Anthropology (an elective - on cultural attitudes to illness, treatment and death, so I felt it fitted well with my interests/plans. It's a totally new course, never offered before, so fingers crossed enough people sign up for it, there needs to be at least twenty for it to run)

Will update results (officially!) on Thursday :)
Thanks to everyone who has dropped by, and much appreciation for your supportive comments :)

Update - end of semester

so i finished up my first semester at UQ last Friday.

results due on 2 Dec.

the crime & punishment essay I was gnashing my teeth over ended up getting a 7- ( at the lower end of the HD bracket/ around 85% - i think that covers all marking styles!)
So yeah - I pulled it off! (eventually - it was very very late and pretty stressful)

i have two essay marks still pending (Phenomenology - on Heidegger and guilt [a theme here?], and Crime & Punishment- on protective sentencing) but i think they were ok.

final Logic exam was written in some other bizarre language in which I am far from fluent. that was a nasty two hours and i am holding out hopes for a credit, but a pass is far more likely.
i did discover a potential job opportunity for when i am old and (even more?) curmudgeonly: being an exam invigilator. all bossy, snippy menopausal* women with control complexes.
sound familiar?

* this may be TMI for a study blog so switch off now if you like, but i got my first hot flash the other day, and have been undergoing hormone investigations for a while now, so it's looking like the sands of time have slipped through that particular hourglass whilst i was having fun with life.
upshot of this is my study and prospective post-grad and future (meaningful) work is now my *footprint* of this lifetime.

"when i grow up i want to change the world" or something like that.



On a lighter note, Summer Semester begins 29 November.
I am sooooo looking forward to it. There's been a void this past week or so that does not sit well with me.
I've be doing some self-directed research/reading on Neuroethics, and am finding it fascinating...all about the ethics of brain enhancement (with psychopharmacology) or memory *dampening* (like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). It all sounds sci-fi I know, but it's not all that far away - healthy people already use drugs like Ritalin to aid study. (yes i did consider it momentarily hahaha, but decided i feel like it is somehow *cheating*...)

Over Summer Semester I am doing a course on Environmental Philosophy which is ethically-based (animal rights, political policies on the environment, etc) so I am looking forward to that. I have an awesome (and well-organised!) lecturer too which helps enormously!

Thanks for all the support for my last couple of posts, it was really appreciated.
Hopefully I can keep the ball rolling a little better this semester.
Ha! I say that every time ;)