Two lovely blog posts written in the first week of attending University:

At first it was exciting starting a new chapter in my life, i was quite proud of myself to have this opportunity to go into further education. To be honest London metropolitan was not my first choice but as i start to connect and understand my lecturers and my classmates im glad that i was accepted here.

As the week progressed i noticed that i was a bit overwhelmed because i took a peek at last years work on weblearn and i started to doubt myself whether i can handle being a student with the extra pressure of student loans and being my parents last hope…. im afraid to let her (mum) down.

On a brighter note Ive come to love my lecturers they are so engaged in teaching, its easy to ask questions and i always receive a satisfied answer or more than i was hoping for. im always focused in lessons as they relate to our lives and current affairs, i never wanna leave (sometimes).

During the second week is when i really struggled as i didn’t know; how much notes im suppose to take, what is relevant and what is already on weblearn, it was hard to overcome but i think i got the hang of it my now (hopefully).  i also struggled with the reading, i never use to read, so to suddenly start reading different books and keeping up with these books made me feel like i was about to have a panic attack, i got some advice from my first lecturer Sandra to take it one week at a time and not to let the reading pile up, so far its going well.

The original blogpost can be found here: http://ikranmohamoud.wordpress.com

AND…

Becoming an educationalist…

This is my first week at University (as I fell ill on induction week) and my first time blogging (well when I say first time what I really mean by that is blogging without Art! I have a Tumblr blog which exhibits some of my art and creative doings but I tend not to communicate with my followers about my art..just a brief on the piece of art) So attending to this blog and doing that well has left me feeling a little apprehensive and to be honest with you ….I have absolutely no idea what I am doing on this blog but I guess I will tell you about my first week at University.

I had a few worries before arriving at university for my first day for example..finding the correct building,the correct lecture room, let alone understanding the lectures and seminars and not being late! I travel from Slade Green and was terrified I would arrive at uni late almost every morning. I did arrive at my first lecture twenty minutes late, entered the lecture room and made an absolute fool out of myself instead of introducing myself and apologising for my absence and lateness. I was then kindly ask to take a seat which I jumped at.  Made myself comfortable as quietly and quickly as possible so I could listen and take notes on this lecture. As I said earlier I was absent for our induction week and the second week, this left me feeling somewhat alone. I had noticed in the lecture room how students had already grouped with the people they may see as friends throughout this course. Although lectures are a group discussion this worried me as having a second opinion or a different opinion broadens the perspective of any idea, thought or vision. I continued to listen and take notes on the lecture and tried not to worry too much about my surroundings. This particular lecture was a bit confusing for me, as I arrived twenty minutes late..was not aware of anybody’s name or even how to approach them and ask “What have I missed?” I decided to listen and take notes the best I could and towards the end of the lecture I think I had the jist of things. Our lecture came to an end and we were informed of where our seminar would be. I was almost instantly attacked by another worry ..!!

Where is room XYZ ??

Thankfully I remembered I do have a brain which contains common sense and not just a whole bunch of worrying thoughts and swiftly followed my fellow students to the seminar room. Where I made myself comfortable and prepared myself for the seminar (I had no idea how to do this) so I got my note-book and pen out. Hoping this would help me and my continuing anxieties. We had a few minutes waiting for everyone to be ready for this lesson so I took this opportunity to maybe say “Hi” to a couple of people and ended up sitting with them during this lesson. Which eased me and allowed me to relax a little more and absorb the information being spoke.  We did an activity about objects and how we relate to these certain objects with our feelings,memory ect.  I found our Globalisation lecture a bit home hitting as I was aware of our technologies becoming increasingly more and more popular but was not fully aware of the extent of it……this is what we see as our ‘glue’ ..holding us together, keeping us connected with our loved ones or distant families. Yet Neoliberal Globalisation is an attack on freedom…garment factories. I think this is and will be problematic for a long time to come. Hegemony. As for example most of us are fully aware of these garment factories and how damaging they are to the individual yet none of us seem to have enough control, say, to do anything about it. During some of my lectures and seminars I have been given a great deal of engaging points and views on the study of education from others…some people may conceive these points as agreeable, some may argue with these.. I think this is the idea ..there’s no wrong or right. If it works..it works.. Which leaves almost all points and views open to discussion and can be looked at in all types of different ways.

I have had an emotional week at the least…roller coaster ride of my life. Meeting all my lecturers for the first time, trying to remember their names, terminologies, words I never knew exist, getting my head around our readings….. I think I could go on and on, some negative, some positive. I think what has stuck in my head the most over this week has been how questioning almost everything is a good place to start with studying education… I am very much looking forward to attending my lectures and seminars next week as I feel settled and raring to learn more and more about becoming an educationalist.

The original blogpost can be found here: http://jas1354.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/becoming-an-educationalist-first-week/