Study Journal
5 October 2012
It is
nearing the end of the semester and the examinations loom forebodingly. Of
course I, in my usual style, have procrastinated leaving the truly important
stuff until the last minute.
English is
one of my modules for this year. Two actually, but I cancelled the one module
because of the extreme stress it created. That something as familiar and loved
as an English writing course should fill me with such anxiety is a bit of a
mystery to me. I do know that I have a
fear of failure, and perhaps this fear is magnified because it is a subject I
enjoy and the possibility of not doing well would be mortifying.
Anyway, to the task at hand:
Exercise 1.15
1. If you were to take
a trip down memory lane, for the purposes of writing about your life, what
details from your high school years might you select?
Ooh, this is
a difficult one, every moment of my teenage years seem to be filled with details
that are worthy of mention. Does one
write about the first year of high school? A new school, new friends, new
subjects, new experiences both scholarly and socially. Then there is the second
year, one filled with life- changing experiences; the year my social life
started and seemingly ended because of the turn my family life took. The third
year also holds promise; it was a year of choices, one that would affect my
academic career, letting go of childish dreams and setting sight on future
endeavours. What about the penultimate year? A year of rebellion and betrayal.
Yes rather dramatic, but that is the way it seemed to a 15/16 year old seeking
answers and rejecting help. And of course, the final year should be added into
the equation, but one that was not quite noteworthy. A long slog for sure, and
one that would determine whether the choices made in the third year were good
ones, academically speaking. So many choices.
I have
re-read the exercise and wonder why I thought the writing needed to be
chronological? What do these English lecturers mean by 'details'? It precisely
that type of question that complicates my life, if this was an oral rendition I
would be sighing in frustration. I will
now spend the next few hours debating with myself about what needs to be
written and it is this type of attitude that procrastination delights in -
three weeks to the exams and a myriad of exercises to complete.
