Tag Archives: postgraduate study

Preggo Brain

Ok, now as a (former) scientist, I know that n=1 is a totally unreliable sample size, but I am here to declare that “Preggo Brain” officially does not exist! My reckoning is this: Of the twelve units I completed for my Masters degree, I sat exams for 5 of them while pregnant. Not all just recently – this is over two different pregnancies – I was pregnant with Finn when I began, and I sat two exams at 33 and 34 weeks gestation respectively. More recently, with Small, I’ve sat exams at 6 weeks, 7 weeks and 22 weeks. The respective grades for those 5 units are as follows: 94, 99, 91, 85, 90. (That 90 was the final unit, I just got my grade on Friday 🙂 )

So there, you see! Obviously it is possible for one’s brain to continue functioning while pregnant. Of course… ask me to remember what I’m supposed to be buying for dinner, and then it all just falls apart completely!

That 85 up there is the thorn in my side, lemme tell you. It’s the only sub-90 mark I have on my record. There was a thread recently on the Wagon BB discussing group projects. That 85 is the result of my only group project in the whole degree. It was a nasty experience that I have no intention of ever repeating, and the source of all my stress over the second half of last year. By some miracle, we managed to pull it together enough in the final couple of days to score 75 on the project. For some weeks, I feared that we’d fail it completely 🙁

Anyway, that’s enough blowing of my trumpet. The point I was getting at is that… I passed the last unit! It’s definitely all over now. And my stitching thanks me for it :giggle:

Stick A Fork In Me, I’m Done

😆

There is a seriously anticlimactic feel to this day. Partly because I finished on an easy unit and not a difficult one (brought about because I had Finn and took a leave of absence, and then did things a bit out of order). Partly because the exam was a bit… odd, in parts. Not that it was particularly difficult – I only needed about 90 minutes for the 3 hour exam. But there were obscure questions worth more marks than they should have been, and poorly worded questions where I felt it necessary to state my assumptions just in order to answer. And the lecturer came and read over my shoulder for a good five minutes, which I found terribly distracting, until I actually had to ask her to leave!

Anyway, it’s done and gone. I felt quite overwhelmed as I left. Relieved, yes, definitely, for the shedding of all the stress. A little bit sad, for the leaving behind of a big part of my life these last three years. Proud of myself, for having set my mind to do this, and having done it well. And just a pinch of “Well, what next…?” :giggle: As I said to a friend a short time after the exam – this is officially the first time since starting primary school that I have been neither employed nor studying! Not sure how I’ll adjust to that, but I’m sure it will be nice for a while.

So… in case you’re wondering… although it isn’t official until about April when I get the bit of paper (and technically, it’s not even slightly official until next week when the results are out)… I have just completed one of these:

Master of Technology (Internet and Web Computing)

(or, for less of a mouthful, an MTech(IWEB))

Whoohoo! 😆