What am I doing??

I get a lot of people (friends and relatives) asking me what I am doing at uni. I briefly explain to each one and it's nice to know that someone is interested (as I am about their lives too). So I thought I'd put together a post about it. This is between essays (I submitted one today and I need a tiny break before I write the one that is due on Thursday!).

So what am I doing?

Well to sum it up, I am working towards a Bachelor of Social Work. I am studying at The University of Tasmania ( which just recently scored in the top 3% of world universities!). It is an excellent university and the programs are awesome.

www.utas.edu.au



 So what does a Bachelor of Social Work entail?

Well, The Bachelor of Social Work is a 4 year degree (when studied full-time but we'll go into that later). It is an end-on degree which mean you have to do 2 years of an approved degree (like Arts) and then you go into 2 years of Social Work. There is also a prerequisite that you have to have done 25% Psychology and 25% Sociology as part of your first two years in order to get into the two years of Social Work.

Now Arts is not what it sounds like. It has nothing to do with Art (that's the school of Fine Arts!).

The school of Arts is a broad range of subject including psychology, sociology, history, indigenous studies, Gender Studies, Philosophy etc etc. Heaps to choose from.

So where am I in all this?

Well, I am currently in my 2nd year of Arts. And I will move to Social Work next year. However, this is my 3rd year at utas. And the reason is that i studied 1st year of Arts part-time or 50% load over two years instead of one. This was necessary as I was working full-time in my childcare business - Family Day Care. I also studied one of my 2nd year subjects last year to take the pressure off of this year.

So far this is what I have studied

First Year of Arts
Psychology A
Psychology B
Sociology A
Sociology B
History A: Making Modern Europe
History B: Making the Modern World
Colonised Land: Indigenous Australian History
Contemporary Indigenous Australians

Working with Offenders (My 2nd year subject that I studied last year. A 2nd year soc subject)

So that parts done and dusted. Now this year here is what I am studying



The hardest book to read EVER!



The really cool thing about this textbook is that one of the authors is actually one of our lecturers at Utas! Pretty cool huh?! Told you we were top 3%


 

Semester 1
Research Methods (Psychology)
Social Inequalities: Global and Local (sociology)
Van Diemens Land: Contested History; Contested Place (LOVING this one!)
History of the Indigenous Peoples of North America

Semester 2
Social Psychology
Sociology of Youth
Australia: 1901 to 2001
(Only 3 subjects 2nd Semester due to the 2nd year subject I completed last year)

So what does this mean?

This means that by the end of this year (2013) I will be half way toward my degree (on the downhill run!). It also means that i spend a lot of time reading, writing essays and general studying. See below!

 The general rule of thumb is that you need to spend around 10 hours per week on each subject. Now if you know me well then you'll know that there is just no way that is possible! So I just do the best that I can in between my new job (whole other blog post there!) and my family.

This also means that I will graduate in December 2015. Yay! Can't wait.

So why am I doing this???

 

That is a very good question!! And let me answer by first saying this.

I have had many many people (other mothers mostly!) say things to me along the lines of:

-Why on earth are you doing that? Wouldn't you rather stay at home with your children

-Oh I'd rather stay at home for my children while they are little

-Doesn't your family suffer because of it?

And many other things but I especially love 'the looks'

 

And that is ok. It really is. that is their opinion. but here is how it really is

 

During semester (well this year) I have worked it so that I only have to attend campus one day a week (unless I have an essay due which is when I need to go to the library). Most of my study is done at night when most of my children are in bed. Lots of my study is done on the weekend when my husband is home and the positive of this is that he gets to spend a different type of time with them ( cooking tea etc and taking care of needs) stuff that i do mostly but he does really well ( when he's not grumpy anyway!). And occasionally I have to go waaaaay into the night to get an essay or research report finished!

 

But that still doesn't answer the question of why I am doing this?

 

There are a couple of reasons

 

The first is: It is part of my plan. My plan for my life and the things I wanted when I was 15 was

-A large family

-To build and own my own home

-to have a university degree

-to publish a book (or two or three or four)

 

The second reason is that I want to move into a higher wage bracket. I want a job that I can work 3 - 3and half days a week and earn the same as I would have working 5 days in childcare. i want a better quality of life. And I don't mean money. I mean that i want to have time. I want to have time to spend with my family. I mean my boys will be 16, 12 and 6 when I graduate. Definitely not too late! And my girls; well I want to go shopping with them on my days off. Have long lunches, shop for baby clothes. I want to spend time helping my husband with his business; to lighten his load. And the list goes on.

 

Does it mean my family don't suffer a little during these few years? No, because I'm sure it does change things for them. But it's not drastic and I think it's worth it!

 

I spent 15 years working as a family day carer which allowed me to be home for my children.

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty (Like when I drop Asha off to day care (two days a week) and he clings to my neck and yells 'Don't leave me here!!!!')

 

But it's a work in progress and I'm getting there. And sometimes I do an awesome job of uni and sometimes I do an awesome job as a parent . . . but sometimes I do a really crappy job of both but man That's life!

 

Anyway, that's all there is. Mission accomplished. I have explained what i am doing. But still feel free to ask me questions.