Tuesday 22 September 2009

A brain like an old balloon...

I have started my studying.I have been reading my text books on the Realist Novel, whilst trying to finish Fathers and Sons and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.The last 2 nights while my sons played football I sat in the car reading and making notes.My brain feels.... well, you know when you have an old balloon that has deflated and all the rubber is stuck together, and you wonder, if you pulled the rubber apart, if you could reinflate the balloon? Well, that is how my brain feels.It has flopped down to the bottom of my skull and I am trying hard to get it to fill up again with knowledge and thoughtful opinion.


My text books are filled with language that has me shaking my head... not in disbelief, but in an attempt to shake my thought processes awake.I find myself looking forward to the moments I have put aside for study and, although I am nervous of having to write my first assignment, I am also excited.


Yesterday I found on my student home page at the Open University website, the list of tutorial dates and the name of my tutor.The thought of walking into a room full of other students and a tutor based at Cambridge University is mind boggling.Boggling.... now there's a word.... I wonder if I could squeeze it into an assignment?

4 comments:

Gail said...

I am so very proud! This is wonderful and you will get in the swing of things.

Reading these books is like listening to classical music, we have been trained for so long for instant gratification that we resist absorbing something that takes more time to read or hear.

You can do this, no doubt in my mind!

Gail said...

PS...don't think about the age of students, you just boil down to a brain in the classroom. Did that make sense? Your brains are competing not your age!

Unknown said...

Glad to hear you're studying Sarah. My late father didn't go back into education until later in life but he swore by lifelong learning. Mind you, it wasn't so hot for the rest of us when he was doing the O.U. - structuralism this, post-modern that - nobody could understand a word he said half the time!

I just hope he didn't get too much grief from the other prisoners - you know what they're like with people who are a bit different - nonces and the like.

Oh well, you're doing Jane Austen - can't go wrong with a bit of P&P. But did she *mean* it all? Or was she just having a laugh? You'll be able to tell us soon!

Good luck with the course - l.u.v. your music selection btw

xxx
'berta

Anonymous said...

Kudos, kudos, kudos to you for your continued education! The books you're reading are divine. Cheers!