Behind the Assignments

I have spoken quite a bit on this blog about getting ready for exams and assignments but have never gone into much detail about what that entails, so for the blog this week I thought I would share with you one of the most interesting assignments that was set for us to complete this semester. 

picpedia.org

For an assignment in our Writing for New Media class we were asked to create a website using Google Sites on any topic we wanted to create. For my website I decided to build it around the theme of football and designed it to give the latest information on each team in the top five European leagues which are in England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. The idea for my design is that I would keep a weekly updated schedule of results, upcoming fixtures and a table to keep up to date with the league position of every team in their respective pages on my website. 

I think the website is a good way for those interested to keep an eye out for their favourite teams, especially now that the season in each of the big five leagues will be finishing up in the next two months or so.  

I picked this idea for the website as I thought it would be a fun idea and football is something I have always had a huge interest on, particularly in the top five leagues in Europe. It has proved to be harder than I originally thought it would be, the idea was a simple one but the execution of the idea is a lot tougher that I thought. It means I have to keep up to date on one hundred teams across Europe, keep track of fifty weekly games and update a further fifty matches for the following week. The assignment for this is due on April 12^thand hopefully I can update you on progress here in a future blog post.

Exam Week Lessons

Last week I wrote that I was going into a big week in college for me with exams to be done during the week and how I was nervous heading into the exams. This week I would like to share how the week went for me and a few things I learned during this week.

1. Go with your first instinct.

The first thing I learned this week is to go with your first instinct. In my first exam this week we were asked to identify an excerpt from a poem and name the title of the poem along with the poet. Luckily I knew the poem immediately, but had trouble with the poet as we were studying two male poets with similar themes. I put down one but later as I was going back over it I crossed it out and wrote the name of the other poet; I was right the first time, so I think it’s important to stick to your first instinct.

2. Repetition eases anxiety

The other exam I did this week had a presentation component to it. Where you pitch your idea in front of the class. I had always been really anxious about doing presentations and had only done my first ever one two years ago in first year. The thought of doing that first one gave me such severe panic attacks that I nearly dropped out of college early on in first year, but I got through it (thanks to some therapy and relaxation techniques) and have been through more since. I think my anxiety eased over time and repetition may have helped as no one really noticed that I was still nervous about this one. I used my box breathing and again managed to get through another presentation

3. Don’t forget to reward yourself

I had a tough week where I had to focus almost non-stop for the entire week, so I felt a reward was justified. I planned to stay at home in front of the fire and watch an old favourite movie while eating things I probably shouldn’t, although there was no guilt. I felt I worked hard for it and deserved it. It’s important to reward yourself when you really deserve it.

Ireland of Old

Now we are into the second half of the semester in the University of Limerick and exams and assignments are coming thick and fast. This week for me will be my first two exams of this semester and I am a bit nervous about them. I’m just hoping everything will be alright  by the end of this week, I know it will be a big one for me. I will get more into this next week.

For this blog post I wanted to reflect  on an interesting class I had last week in the Film Studies module. We watched a documentary film called ‘Rocky Road to Dublin’ which was released in 1967. 

I found the film interesting as it tells the story of Ireland at the time of release of the film.

The film was banned in Ireland as it showed the country in poor light concerning some areas of public life the Government wished not to have broadcast. It banned the showing of the documentary on state television and cinema. 

The film focuses on such controversial issues of the time and still of present day Ireland such as contraception, the GAA and the banning of members watching or participating in ‘foreign’ games – soccer, rugby, cricket and hockey.

The documentary film also focused on State censorship which heavily censored media across the county, leading to many Irish writers to emigrate in hopes of getting their work published. 

Finally the film showed how involved in Irish society in general the clergy was, especially in the education sector and how it was an accepted part of Irish society.

Getting the opportunity to try different modules such as Film Studies and learning things like this is what makes this semester so interesting.

That’s it for this week. Hopefully I will have an update on the coming week for you next week!

Time to Give

We are in week six at the University of Limerick and that means that we are nearly at the halfway point of the spring semester. It also means that it is all about charity and giving this week in UL. That is the topic I would like to talk about today. 

I am doing my alternative to Erasmus here at the University and have been given the opportunity to pick whatever modules I liked, as long as I did not do them before or they were not part of any future study. One of the modules I picked was Psychology and Social Issues, which I was immediately fascinated with. 

Part of our coursework in Psychology and Social Issues is to plan and carry out a fundraiser for a charity we had the opportunity to vote on. The class selected Pieta House to raise money for and after much discussion it was decided that the activities we would carry out in our fundraiser for this very deserving charity would be bag packing and we would try and organise at table quiz. 

In the upcoming week we have to decide how we are going to organise these events, including permission from the shop we will be bag packing in and the venue where we will hold our table quiz. Then next week, which will be week seven, we will try and carry out our fundraising ideas and hopefully as a class, be able to raise enough money to help out Pieta House, which is an amazing and worthwhile charity which helps those who are struggling with their mental health. As part of the coursework we then have to write a report on how we organised the event, then took part in the event and overall how we feel the fundraising went. 

In Preparation

We are heading into week 5 at the University of Limerick and that means one thing, assignments and exams are beginning to roll in. Over the next couple of weeks we will begin to prepare for upcoming assignments and exams and I want to write about how I prepare for these things as a college student. 

The first exams are on their way as we head towards the midway point of our Spring semester and the first assignments of the semester have come and gone, with more deadlines coming soon. 

With so much beginning to happen it is so important to get out in front of things and be ready for everything. 

It is important to note any and all deadlines for assignments as some may slip out of your memory. I tend to use my phone as a way to record any upcoming assignment deadlines as I find it easier to keep notes on my phone more so than on paper. I find it hard to keep track of important pieces of paper when I need them so it is safer for me to keep them on my phone. For important lists I like to use the app Wunderlist, it is a handy little app that allows you to set reminders in advance so you don’t miss anything, though any app you use with reminders will work. 

I also like to keep working away for the semester by going back over lecture notes and slides, as well as any notes taken during tutorials. I try to go over them at the weekend after every week has passed, so I don’t have to do as much when I have assignments or exams due soon.

So that is my routine for upcoming exams and assignments, I think it is something very basic, but it works for me. Let me know if you do anything similar, and if not let me know what works for you, I’m interested to find out. 

The Alternative Experience

I am in my third year in the University of Limerick and having just completed my CoOp work placement I am now back at the college to finish off my third year, there has been a slight change in this semester and in this blog I am going to share my experience of this semester so far. 

In the current semester at in UL I am doing my alternative to Erasmus as I felt I needed to remain at home for personal reasons.

In the relatively short time I’ve been here this semester I’ve learned a lot and would like to share a few experiences I’ve had so far.

1. Putting together your own timetable is difficult.

I found it tough to pick subjects I thought I would like, that I would do well in and more importantly, wouldn’t clash with other lectures, tutorials or labs in any other subject and I found this to be the most difficult thing to do.

2. Balancing Subjects

I found it difficult to balance subjects that I thought I would like, with ones that I felt I could get a good enough grade in by the end of the semester. I found it tough to choose between modules I thought I would like, but may be challenging, with modules I felt more confident in.

3. Dealing with full modules.

Unfortunately in the early part of picking my subjects I found that three modules I had originally chosen were not able to take me for their own reasons, full classes were the main reason. This meant I needed to choose three substitute modules and make them fit in my timetable with the two I had locked in. This proved very challenging but eventually I was able to come to a solution.

My early weeks in the semester have been a massively different experience than I am used to in the university, but it has been exciting and new. I am taking loads of fun new modules for the semester and have picked some that I have been interested in for so long. If you would like, I hopefully I will be able to update you on how the semester progresses in an upcoming blog post. Let me know what you think.