Debbie – mature-age student
INTRODUCTION: This is Debbie. She’s studying a degree in nursing. She’s also working part-time and cares for children at home. She’s done up to Year 10 in education and completed a university preparation program before starting university.
DEBBIE: The very first thing that comes to mind is the juggling of Learnline between the various units. So if you’re doing a four-unit load, [with] lecturers using Learnline differently, placing things in Learnline differently… you know, with one lecturer you might be looking in one area to find something but you can’t find it the same area for another unit. So that’s one of the key areas that was a big problem I faced in first year.
The other thing, is how hard do I have to work to get a decent grade in this? A grade that I think is good for me. That’s also one of the struggles that you have. Do I need to work really, really hard, or is this class one where I just do what the lecturer says? You know, read this, do that. Or what extra might I have to do? Because sometimes, it’s unclear.
When you’re at university and you’re doing four units, it consumes all of your time, and you forget to have down-time. So you go home and you’re studying, you know, you’re forgetting to do some of your chores, or pay those bills, or things like that. So it’s part of that work balance, that home-life balance. How hard do I have to work? How much time can I have off? Do I need to do this five, seven days a week?
I started my university life through TEP [Tertiary Enabling Program]. Once I was in my program I wanted similar support with essay writing and things like that. So I contacted ALLSP [Academic Language and Learning Support], and I did that throughout my four years of study. So in the beginning it was that real support about essay structure, and later on it was how to manage your time a bit better. Things like that, because they have all different types of services available.
Approaching the librarians when you couldn’t find a book, or [wanted to know] about a service, because they seemed to be a wealth of knowledge. You can sort of say “I’m looking for this,” and they can point you in the right direction. Help you with the computers…
Probably about second semester in first year, I realized that as long as I knew when my assessments were, [I could] write a plan and count back the weeks from the major assessments. So for example, if I had an essay, I would count back five weeks and put “planning week”. So what I would do is I’d draw up a timetable for myself, so when I made up that plan, I would put in absolutely everything – what I would have to read, which classes I would have at attend, so it would give me a gauge of what hours I would need to put in that week. Once I did that I knew that when I came home, I could turn my mind off from university, because I had fulfilled what I needed to that week. That it wasn’t “well, maybe I’ve got something else to do”. I knew I hadn’t, and that gave me permission to stop, because I knew that I was on-track and headed in the right direction.