So its almost time for me to start my second year with the OU, doing my final 60 credits for level1, and I am ready and pumped to start. Last year definitely showed me a lot of areas I need to work on in order to be successful this year, so I’m hopeful for an even better learning experience. I’m doing another mixed humanities module this year to work towards my Classics degree, but I cant say that I’m as excite about this as last time. Last year, one of the worst sections of my module was the sheer amount of subjects that were covered, many I loved, but many I really did not like! I can see it being the same case this year, however there are areas I’m very excited about, such as Dickens and Pompeii.

Last year, I think the main learning curve for me was that I needed to always be prepared to get confused and for tasks to take longer than planned. Especially near the end of the year as I tried to fi more into my life, I was leaving assignments a lot closer to the due date, and not always completing all recommended tasks. This was sometimes absolutely fine, more so on topics I was confident on; but on others, this made the whole thing stressful and sometimes very tight to get work sent in on time. This year, the adjustment should be simple, I plan to keep myself a week ahead of schedule, hoping that this will allow for the possibility of getting stuck and needing to wait for contact with my tutor, and then to spend the time going over materials to understand how to move forward.

A big regret of mine last year, is that I stopped going to be tutorials, and didn’t make it to any of the day schools. This was not fully my fault, I had health and MH issues, that made going not possible all the time, but those that I did go to, I found very helpful. I cant help but think that if I went to more of them than, I could of got a higher mark, possibly even a distinction. Another simple adjustment for the next year, do all in my possibility to go to my tutorials. This should be easier this year, as I now have my own car, and can make my own way there rather than relying on parents to drive me.

This year I will have an exam at the end of the course which I did not have last year. I believe that this will require me to adjust my study technique quite a bit. While working through material last time, I stayed focused on the assignment question more than the topic and all the information, I’m sure if I was tested on it all now, I could probably only remember the bare basics. Still I’m not too sure how I’m going to do it, but I will definitely need to work through all the information as information, and then work on the assignments separately, in order to pick it all up in preparation for the exam. Not going to lie, this is what I am most nervous about.

SO I think that is it, they are my thoughts coming up to the star date of my next module which is in October,  and the changes to my study technique that I am hoping to make. I would love to hear others experiences with exams at the OU as it is a worry of mine for this year. Also how is it doing two modules at once? Probably not going to do this now that I’m working but it has crossed my mind a few times to speed up my studies.