A Journey to the Centre of the Mind

February 10, 2014

October 2013 was a breeze when life at the University of London had just begun. By December 2013, the sails picked wind and the cruise sailed comfortably till the new calendar remained out of gaze.

Man studying with hair standing on endOn the morning of 1st January 2014, the hair on the head began experiencing an anti-gravity pull.

Responsibilities at work were piling, eating into valuable study time. Festivities and celebrations were becoming botherations.

A cricket commentator would say … the asking rate is rising; wickets are falling and overs getting exhausted without adequate runs on the board.

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The ‘thrill’ of really knuckling down, and thumbs up for flexibility

February 3, 2014

LSHTM logoI get a fair few questions from people about studying at the University of London.  And it’s always a bit of a mouthful to explain that I’m studying at ‘the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine through the University of London’s distancing learning programme’…

But, it does give me ample opportunity to remind myself why I chose this path to begin with.  More on that in a moment.

Free range humans road sign, New Zealand

While having a good break back in New Zealand, stumbled upon this great road sign.

To start with, I have to echo several of the other UoL Student bloggers.  To say that my own study plans got mildly side tracked in the latter part of 2013 would be an understatement.  My work with St. Joseph’s Hospice really took over but a new year, a fresh new perspective, and a month back home in New Zealand have helped me figure out how to find the balance.

It also means it’s really time to knuckle down!

But surprisingly, I think it gets a whole lot easier when I can really knuckle down, or get ‘get in the groove’ as another blogger alluded to.

Having almost got through an initial read of all the course materials, a little bit like reading the recipe right through and prepping your ingredients before getting cooking, I can now get stuck in to mixing, stretching and testing (in a proverbial cooking sense!).  Perhaps a stretch to make a cooking metaphor out of exam prep, but hey, whatever gets you through!

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Epidemiology at 48: My top 10 exam tips

May 14, 2013

lshtm_logo_blackSo the topic of this month’s blog post must obviously be the exams. Is there anything else?

Actually, there is. My eldest son took his younger brothers to town on their bikes for the first time ever, just the three of them. My middle son started learning to barrel race (yes, there are cowboys in New Jersey!). My youngest son is simultaneously learning some new soccer moves and putting the finishing touches on Mozart’s “Turkish March.”

But still—let’s face it. EXAMS. June 3, June 5 and June 7, conveniently scheduled the same week as my 49th birthday and my 15th wedding anniversary.

Here are my top 10 tips for prepping:

1. Still finishing the courses themselves? Your synapses are frayed. So outsource your brain: Take. Good. Notes.

2. Get enough sleep. Don’t even bother cracking the books if you can’t get at least 7 hours.

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