I finished my first part time year with 1 high distinction, 1 distinction, and 2 credits. I deserve to have finished with 1 high distinction, 3 distintions, however the scaling system of my psychology subjects somehow took my high distinctions and made them credits, so, fine – 1 HD, I D, 2 C. I worked between 30-35 hours every week of that school year, and I can’t tell you how proud I am to be able to say I did it.
High school was a nightmare in the end, post-viral fatigue really took it out of me – I honestly thought I’d never “be good at anything again”. I did my senior year over 2 years, through a program called ‘Pathways’ which allows you to break down your subject load over more time, without repeating the year. I slowly recovered from sleeping 16 hours a day, 365 days a year, and now I can say with a bright face that I am a distinction average student, who worked full time to support herself living out of home.
The only trace of darkness in the truth is how draining it is emotionally, to continually give up living your life in ways that the ‘lucky people’do, in order to do such things for yourself. Which brings me to the creation of my newest 43 thing – making more time for my hobbies.
I am on the way to finishing my undergrad, and I encourage everyone to keep pushing. This is just another opportunity to explore yourself intimately, as an intellectual, as an individual, as an intricate emotional and physical being.
