A silly little thing happened this week;

I finished my Masters in Teaching (Primary).

Gideon and I also finished 4 seasons of Breaking Bad, but that's a whole other blog post.

Finishing university is bittersweet. It's comparable to finishing high school and the feeling of uncertainty that comes with it as now 'life' begins. Well, my professional 'life', that is.

When I started university in 2009, I could only see the end of my Undergrad degree. I finished that mid-2012 & married Gideon soon after. But when I started University I never thought of what it would feel like to finish university. It's weird, really weird. I feel like i've been thrown in the deep end, given all these skills to teach but no class to teach it to.

I'm doing a resume drop tomorrow to my two prac schools, hoping for some casual work before the school year ends. That's another thing... working. I've had a job before, cleaning, but I've never been a professional. I have a profession, I'm trained, I'm qualified... this is my career. It is so strange.

The road to this destination has not been easy, in fact these past 5 years have been the most emotionally and mentally turbulent of my entire life. Developing a serious anxiety problem to dealing with bouts of depression, it has been hard but has it been worth it? Yes.

If I gave up I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself because in the end 'I did it!' and I've slapped the mental health issues in the face. And I would advise you to do the same, regardless of your situation. Just slap that voice in the back of your head telling you that you're not good enough oooor you're the worst human being on the face of the earth. I told you so.

So here's to you, University, you weren't very fun but I got two degrees out of you so I'm happy about that.

Now to find a job...

Stay classy.

Stressed Out | Uni life ☹

I went back to university on Wednesday. Yepp, final semester of my Masters of Teaching (Primary). Where have the past 4.5 years gone?

Due to my low threshold for dealing with stress, I'm already feeling the pressure of assignments and my practicum coming up. 6 assignments and 27 days of prac teaching at a school.

Holy cow.

Depending on how I do this semester determines whether I graduate either in December (If my cohort is chosen for a special graduation ceremony) or April next year. Here's hoping for December. Which is a similar attitude I had when I wrote about graduating from my Undergraduate and dealing with my crippling anxiety. It's located waaaay in the back of my blog archives.

When I finish, I will be qualified in teaching children from the ages of 5-12. How crazy is that?
I'm looking into getting some casual work whilst I apply for college for photography.

                                 (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Thinking about the end of uni makes me reminisce about when I started all those years ago. Just a shy 18 year old me, fresh out of year 12. I'd commute from my house to university every. single. day. of. the. week (mostly because I didn't really understand the whole tutorial selection process). I'd go to uni and buy some breakfast and spend all day there listening to lectures, attending tutorials and hanging out with my new group of friends. I'd also make sure I was 100% prepared for everything. Printing out lecture notes, having homework done as soon as I got home and eating balanced meals throughout the day.

These days my friends and I just choose the most convenient times for tutorials, drive to uni, talk though lectures, eat through tutorials and chit chat in between classes. A lot has changed.

I'm going to miss university, it's pretty much all I've known since high school, but being a graduate without having to go back to study again will be good and a nice change. Even though I'm going to college but... it will be for taking photos, so it's different. I think.

I can't wait to finally make some money and finally start the new chapter of my life. Gideon is experiencing some HUGE and amazing career changes which are making us extremely happy. We're pretty glad for the future and are anticipating it with optimism.

So here's to my last semester! I hope you finish as quickly as you started.

-C.