Mannify Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Hi all. I have an essay due today, so it's silly of me to be on here. Still, here I am. I'm a married mum of three - two boys aged 9 and 7, and a little girl aged four. My middle son attends special school and is going through diagnostic process, my eldest is very bright and very high functioning, but we're farily sure he has Asperger's, and he will be referred to the panel although it will probably take 2-3 years. I'm also convinced that my brother-in-law has Asperger's, although he's in his 40s and has never been diagnosed. So anyway, that's a start. Hello all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Hello and welcome. What's your essay on? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Well, it's a bit tedious, Robert7111a. The question is 'How do children use language as a link between the individual and society?'. There isn't much room for individuality, since I am expected to use the module materials. I think my big difficulty is that I was doing two modules together, but I've just completed one and this is now the tail-end of my degree. I'm assignment-weary and just want to get it over and done with now. I'm also tired because I was up till 3 doing it last night. So I'm a bit grouchy today. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Btw, it's a bit weird that the forum dredged up my son's bin weevil as my profile picture. I'll have to find something more appropriate when I've done this silly essay. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Hello Interesting essay - I always think that even though such courses require the use of module resources - that it is a good idea to say what you think, ask any questions that spring to mind, speculate, and base that within the context of the course materials you have at hand. Best Darkshine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Hello Darkshine. Yeah, normally I love essays, but I'm towards the end of it all, and this module doesn't even affect the classification, so I'm finding it hard to dredge up the enthusiasm I usually have. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 25, 2012 I know how you feel, I am a year and a half away from my degree.... But this assignment could be really interesting because as someone who has spent years being unable to speak or communicate, I realise that language is something big - it is the link to everything - without language we can't communicate and we are alone if we can't do that - if we can't talk then there is no bridge between ourself and other people, let alone society. And as someone who has been alone for most of their life because of an inability to communicate I realise the value in that, and the costs... Like having all this stuff inside and being forced to do so many things against my will and not ebing able to do much about it cuz I couldn't say anything. To me, if I got this assignment I would think of that, of people who cannot do what so many people naturally seem to do - I've had to learn it and it's take most of my life so far to learn that - I'm 31 - and it's only been the last year or so that I've been able to do so by finding this forum, because writing is what I do, writing is how I communicate, and the verbal world of language is a whole other ball game because it's harder as there's social cues, nuances, meanings that I have to work at understanding. And I have felt very alone up until the last year when I joined this forum, because I could not to 99% of people. Language is everything, without it we wouldn't be where we are today as a society - it's the very essence of everything. Cuz there's this gap isn't there - there's a gap between what you think and what I think - and by communicating - by talking (or writing) we find a way to bridge this gap - without it we wouldn't be able to communicate ideas, wants, hopes, needs - we wouldn't be able to stretch our minds or understand other people's experiences. The stuff in courses like that treats language as this dry boring thing - but when you look at experience - well, language is a massive essence of experience and of learning and growing, and of connections and bonds to people. I've spent years and years and years in silence with language and communication as this massive barrier - and it's been a lonely thing - and I envy people who just manage to do stuff without half the hassle that it is has taken me - because learning to just talk to people isn't easy for me - and even now - I couldn't say this if we were in the same room because the other stuff to do with communication prevents me from doing so. Almost every aspect of our lives requires language, without it we are cast out and alone, we are trapped without communication. Good luck with the essay Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted June 25, 2012 Yes I see what you mean and I can see a few viewpoints to your essay. You must be one fantastic mum do do a degree and look after 3 children. You must be rather tired... Sorry to be nosey, what's your degree? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 25, 2012 You've blown me away, Dark. Of course, you're right. Language is dynamic and dazzlingly beautiful. My degree is BA (hons) Childhood Studies. I then want to teach. When I eventually work again it will simply have to be school hours, term-time only, because I don't want my son to have to go in childcare. I would prefer speech and language therapy, but there's no course available locally. I'm not fantastic, but my children are. This is a wonderful forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 25, 2012 I guess it's important to me from being locked away for so many years - I don't know what my language problems are called because all the words are here in my head - there just seems to be a short circuit between brain and mouth - and another short circuit with finding the right things to say out loud because of all the options there are of things to say. Writing, in comparison, is usually so much simpler. Hope I gave you some - I don't know - something interesting to think about - I'm doing a psychology degree - a year of that was specifically devoted to childhood studies including developmental studies, but language is something that has come up a lot of times, and they always make it dry, about things that have no meaning, they make it factual and complicated, but if you look at it the right way it's just incredible how a child can go from saying mum,.dad, yes, no, ball, dog, juice etc (or animal noises) and then start speaking with all the little words we use to mean stuff, and at that level of a very young child they pick it up - and as they develop into teens, then adults and what was always so very crucial, becomes more complex, more developed, more mature. It really could be a very interesting if you find the right hook into it, just some extra stuff to add amidst the general essay type protocols that can be wearing after long enough the layers and functions of language are incredibly complex if you think about the way it isn't one way - communication operates on so many levels, it's the key to everything, think of all the influences we can have just by the power of speech, it doesn't all have to be about syntax, grammar, learning and memory (and a bunch of other language words that I really don't want to have to dredge out of my memory) as my problem in my studies was in understanding the words used to describe and explain language Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 26, 2012 Are you at a brick uni, Darkshine? I'm doing OU. I was going to do psychology, but it was a more prescriptive degree so I wouldn't have been able to use the French I did ages ago as part of the credits. Sometimes I wish I'd stuck with the psych, though. But I have loved what I'm doing. I've just completed a module on children's literature, and before that a module on researching childhood. I would love to do a Phd, although I cannot imagine where I'd fit that into my life. My children are more important right now. Anyway, I'd love to know more about your psychology degree. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 26, 2012 Same place as you good old OU is great for people who either can't afford the fees of "a brick" uni in one go - and for people who have things with their life that would make going to a brick uni next to impossible. I've done 10 modules with the OU, started off with a couple of openings courses when I was pretty ill (severely depressed) passed them both with ok marks - and then thought I'd start a degree in languages - I chose Spanish (which I hate) and they wanted me to do a humanities course to begin with - halfway through I thought "what the hell am I doing?" so I dropped it and reassessed. So I thought about what would be most useful. I'd been trying to get better and stuff so I thought I might as well learn psychology, it's a broad subject so I can't get bored, it's got a lot of options and stuff, and most important, I figured if the mental health service weren't able to "fix" me then I'd damn well do it myself. I've done 7 modules now, got this current one to finish (my exam has been deferred to October) but I did the coursework last year, so it's hard picking it up again to revise (which I will do at the beginning of next month). After that I have the "big one" to do, which is the module every person I've spoke to was scared of - but I'm looking forward to it - it's cognitive psychology. I've lost heart with it all this last year, had a lot of problems with my health, my mind, my life this last year and a half, getting diagnosed with AS really knocked me, but I'm feeling a bit more on top of things in some ways. I don't know what level of degree I'm looking at cuz the last 2 modules are worth the most. But to be honest I don't really mind at the moment (I'm sure I will as the exam looms closer). But seeing as I don't know what to do with the degree, and I can't really afford to continue studying (an MA at the nearest uni is a few thousand, and the clinical psychology course is about 7 thousand) way out of my budget and the OU stopped it's post-grad for psychology (or I would have done it with them) but those governmental changes to funding and stuff has made my preplanned route turn into a dead end with the OU, with psychology at least, I could tack some other stuff on, the OU has added quite a few courses to do with mental health areas and developmental areas, so I could pass some time with those - but the fees have doubled since the government changes so I'd really have to think about it. Yours sounds interesting - a nice broad area too - there's lot's of choices of things you could do with that if you wanted - I like broad choices - I figured, all those years ago (cuz even though my degree route has 7 modules, it's taken a bit longer as I have had this course put on hold for a year and I had to redo one because I had like a breakdown halfway through - oddly enough that was the child development module lol). I really like the way the OU gives people a chance to study - I have agoraphobia so going to an actual brick place would have been impossible - I don't even get to tutorials - so it's been a pretty lonely and isolating journey - but at least I got a chance to take that journey you know? Are you on your final year? When's your exam? Do you have to do a longer piece of work for your module? The last one I had to do was an inch thick and cost a fortune to send through the post it really ramps up when you get to level 3 courses dunnit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 26, 2012 Yay, a colleague! This is my final year. My results for EA300 (children's lit) are due 'before August 3rd' according to my student page, and I'm finishing off U212 (childhood) with an exam in October. Getting a first is all down to my result from EA300, which is scary. But you get full funding for a PGCE with a first, so it'll make a big difference to whether it's doable or not. I'm really disheartened by the fee hikes, because it really is closing doors for some people. The OU has been great for me, though, because I can study at weird times. I'm very fond of it as an institution, and I hope it still has a future despite the government pulling its funding. Cognitive psychology sounds so exciting. Like I said, I really do sometimes wish I'd stuck with the psych, although I'm quite easily intimidated by science. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 26, 2012 There's not too much science overall - the biology of the brain module had enough to kill most people's brains - but on that one my tutor was a doctor working in neuro-psychology and she was a really good tutor (can't say the same for all of them) it's been 50/50 for me with tutors but then it's hard doing everything via email. I really want to get a first, but I'm afraid my health hasn't been great over the previous modules and this one (I'm on social psychology right now) has been a real challenge for me as it's full of things I don't understand to do with people and society, it's really pushed me to my limit because it's all qualitative. It's one of the few courses that are entirely quali too so I've had to learn that as well. Are you doing an honours degree? With the psych stuff the BPS doesn't wanna know if you don't have honours I was gutted about the fee hikes - and not just for me - the access to learning is what the OU is all about - for people who need alternative learning options for a multitude of reasons, it's sad that the government has forced them into that corner - they are still trying to keep them as low as possible but it's still a big jump - I'm applying for transferable study where they will lower my final course fee - but even then, I am out of funds and will have to apply for "a pot of money to help students with their final year" it makes me feel like a scrounger but I really do want to do something useful with the degree so maybe I can give back somehow - god knows how much it'll cost, it was 1200 quid last time I looked and that was before the fees sky-rocketed so I dread to think. I'm fond of it as an institution too, when I went on a summer school a few years ago I met so many other people from all walks of life with all types of reasons for going with the OU - it was a nice reminder that I'm not the only one with problems you know? It's amazing how many people with young kids go with the OU too - it gives people choices doesn't it? Gives people a chance - that's a big thing to offer. I guess even with the prices going up, at least people can still sort of slog through a degree piece by piece - it seems easier to find a grand than several at once like the brick uni's. What was children's lit like? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Yep, I know they've got to make savings somewhere, but education is s short-sighted way of doing so. One fellow Ou person I know is just doing his degree as a hobby because cancer has robbed his ability to do most other things, but the fee hikes may rob him of that, and I think his need of OU is as valid as anyone's. You're right, though - amazing people do OU. On my last module there was a lady undergoing major heart surgery, two undergoing chemo, one single parent with children with learning difficulties and one whose mother died, all on the forum. My mum did it, too, while caring for my gran and fleeing an abusive relationship. My degree is honours, it's required for teaching now. I loved the children's lit module. There was a broad range of set texts to read, Mortal Engines was my favourite. But the crititcal essays were well chosen, too. Results on 3rd August! Just a few minutes ago I was talking to a fellow dog-walker whose 17 year old son who has Asperger's wants to do a psychology degree. I hope I see the lady again, it was the first time I met her today. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Unfortunately some people seem to think education is reserved for the well-off and able - or at least the government appears to.... So you got a month and a week to wait then - stressful!!! I don't know what I'm gonna be like waiting on my final result - you going to your regional centre for the whole cap and gown thing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Well, my baby sister (I'm 35, she's 19) is doing a medical degree over in Manchester, so I might do the graduation there. But it won't be till next spring because I have an exam for this last module in October. I've heard it's a very expensive day. Do you have results looming? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) I have an exam in October too then my results aren't due for that until about a week before xmas usually - or if they are being slow, just after xmas, by which time my next course will be kicking off in Feb and serious study starts - I'm only worried about the summer school for the next course cuz of my problems with travel and people... I heard it's expensive for the whole graduation thing - it seems to be what a lot of people ask me for some reason - even 3 years ago when the end felt a million miles away. Last time I looked into it they said that when I wait for my final result to see what level of degree I get, there would be a gap from finishing the course (hopefully next October) and the graduation won't be til the summer after - but I've deferred a year so they might have changed that - I don't know... it's not really me, the whole cap and gown thing - I'd feel a right idiot I don't like waiting on results either Edited June 27, 2012 by darkshine Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Yeah, I haven't totally decided about grad day; I'm not really sure what I think about it. Sounds like we'll be getting results at the same time. Results are nerve-wracking. TMAs are bad enough, but final module results do seem to be a day of reckoning. I love it all really, though, and I'm sure the OU has saved my sanity to some extent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 I couldn't have got this far without them that's for sure - not many brick uni's who would say yes to someone who couldn't get there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 or allow someone to work so flexibly that the degree is done mainly through all-nighters, lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Yeah I just like how it gives people the chance. And they have been quite flexible with me too which has helped!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 My current tutor is ace. She turns TMAs around within two days usually, with lots of good feed back, and responds promptly to all queries. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 I love tutors like that - I don't have a tutor cuz of the deferral so am flying solo with course stuff I haven't looked at for months and months - my last tutor was forever on holiday, I was waiting 2 weeks on average for a reply to a simple question, it really is the only downside - I like the dedicated tutors as opposed to the tutors doing it in the spare time for extra cash - you quickly tell who's who though lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 27, 2012 Yeah, my tutor really seems to have a sense of responsibility towards us and our well-being. I've had a couple of the other type, but they were ok, really. What do you prefer, exam or EMA? I definitely prefer exams, because an EMA seems like a month-long exam, with all the same stress of an exam, but it lasts many times longer. Plus, my EMA for EK310 took a nose-dive score-wise, whereas I've done ok with exams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 27, 2012 I prefer EMA's - because an exam puts me under so much stress that it isn't a fair representation of what I know or what I can achieve - I'm never satisfied with my marks at the best of time's because I've always known I can do better - I guess one part of distance learning is that it's sometimes has difficulties - interaction between other students and tutors and stuff is crucial (I even have anxiety issues about using the online forums the OU has) and the isolation with only my mind has downsides at times. I find the EMA concept interesting, cuz you get the envelope through the door and the time pressure is on - I kinda like that, the pressure helps me focus , I like the fact that I know it's coming, it's almost like a surprise but I find it a far more fairer test of my abilities because time is still very tight, there isn't room for making a mistake and redoing things, it has to be planned accurately and executed to that time scale. Also the way they require knowledge from the entire course. Whereas an exam... well, take the one I will have, there are 4 parts, each with 2 questions, of those I have to answer 3 questions. I have to pick 3 questions from the 4 parts and answer one question from each. Now if I split the course materials up into parts, there are far more than that. So whatever I pick will apply to very specific topics within the course. Obviously if I know the course the this shouldn't be a problem, and any other day it wouldn't be - but I just crack up in exam situations - I struggle to concentrate, to focus, to think clearly, and to remember and all cuz of anxiety over sitting in a room with someone watching me for hours I actually have home exams so there really is someone 6 feet away staring at me - I'm screwed either way cuz even if I opted for the normal style exam (like in an examination centre) I'd be battling agoraphobia, anxiety of being outside, there's more people, and the threat of a panic attack at any given time, although the invigilator would be looking at more people (which on balance is worse than home exams lol). I also have issues with my mind going blank when someone is staring at me - to the point in the past where I have struggled to tell someone my own name and there's nothing more frustrating than standing there like a moron trying to fish in your mind to find stuff that you know is there - you know that feeling when you try to think of the name of something and it's on the tip of your tongue? Well it isn't even like that - my mind actually goes completely blank and I start spouting total rot - I think it's a consequence of blind panic - but it's very frustrating when the minute the panic has gone (afterwards) I could answer the whole thing to a much higher standard Usually my examination grades are always 10 marks lower (at least!!) than my TMA's and that sucks too... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 28, 2012 I can see how the 6 ft away thing would be a put-off in an exam. Downer. It must be enormously frustrating to be unable to perform to the level you know you're capable of. Have you found the OU to be an exploration of what you're capable of? I have; it's been a bit like coming home. I find that EMAs have me in exam stress for the duration, though. For my last one I had time put aside for it and spent annoying amounts of time having a panic attack instead. But that was because my classification hangs on the result from it, and in turn, the PGCE. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 28, 2012 I'm not sure, because of all the other stuff going on in life - especially when I first started studying with them, that first course was a challenge because I had to learn how to study - it's something I never bothered with at school so learning how to actually study, write essays, think in certain ways to get good grades was a whole thing to learn in itself - never mind whatever the actual subjects were it has allowed me to learn though, and as time has gone on I've gotten better at studying and writing essays and stuff, learning to say things in better ways so that people understand what I am trying to say more of the time. It's funny that an exam is a nightmare for me, but an EMA is a nightmare for you, I guess it's the duration and manner of pressure... but there's always gonna be more pressure when you know everything you've worked towards is riding on that performance. To be honest, the have me in that level of stress for the duration too in some ways, but on a personal level I think that the way my life has been has helped me with the EMA's more than with exams - most things have been long drawn out processes, with my quality of life and state of mind riding on them, in comparison an EMA is nothing stress-wise to some of the things in my life - an unseen extensive project is a good parallel for my life - last year there was a TMA that ended up being over 10,000 words (with the appendices) - the main difference is I could see what that TMA was gonna be from the start so could think about that long before it came up (I didn't, but I could have). The difference is the EMA is worth more, and it is unseen - but if you saw the stress I have just doing a 2000 word essay lol it makes no difference if it's double the length or unseen - the stress is pretty much the same because I am never satisfied with what I do - sometimes afterwards I can think about it and see good bits - but I'm too much of a perfectionist so it's like dealing with several things at once - there's the essay/assignment/report/EMA and they have their own pressures, demands, targets, focuses - and then there's the stuff in my head that I have to work around too. I think that's another part of why I don't like exams - by the time I've shelved my neurotic-ness and got a grip - I haven't got much time left to deal with the actual content of the exam because I spend half of it fighting with myself (in addition to having someone staring at me) I just looked at the fees for my next course and have fell off my chair - it's 2500 quid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 28, 2012 Woah, 2500! Is that even with transitional fees? One thing I find difficult about OU, and I guess any degree, is that with each seperate module you have to relearn how to write an essay to please the individual tutor. They all have their specific quirks in marking, I think. My last tutor couldn't really care less about reffing, which was cool, but it did put me out of practice for theEMA, lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 28, 2012 No that's the going rate - haven't a clue what the transitional fee will be I've found that with tutors too - on my last course there was a lot of moaning on the forum about it because each tutor was saying a different thing about a project - caused some confusion!!! I find it annoying too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 28, 2012 Still love it though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 29, 2012 So a love hate thing then? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 29, 2012 I think that sums the OU up generally, especially at TMA time! Have you ever been to OU-land in Milton Keynes? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 29, 2012 Nope, have you? There's this sketch by Bill Bailey and ever since every time I hear "Milton Keynes" (or read it) it makes me hear it this way http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4217775114437878358 It's a one minute sentence that starts at 1:22:32 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 29, 2012 Genius :lol: . Loved the veggie bit, too. Yeah, I went down last year for a student conference thing. It was a kind of academic utopia where everyone was uniformly and simultaneously intellectual and genteel . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 29, 2012 Maybe you'll hear "Miiiilton Keeeeeynes" every time now too From what you've said it doesn't sound like my kinda environment - but at the same time it kinda does - it's just that I don't really fit into that world - did you like it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 30, 2012 I loved it, actually. However dear my current life is, I do occasionally dream of suspending all functional life and sitting in a dusty study poring over research papers, only to reemerge from time to time in order to report my findings to my gentle, academic colleagues. Ok, well maybe not, but I do feel more comfortable in academia than anywhere else. I know it subversive of me to admit that, though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkshine Report post Posted June 30, 2012 You made me laugh with your imagery - could really see that situation It's interesting to me where this comes from in your life? I ask that question because as much as I like learning, and would love to find some professor who everyone thinks is nuts and then find out that s/he's not and it's just a role s/he plays, and then find out loads of interesting stuff in a study filled with books (I love books, even one's I never want to read). But I'm just as happy sitting on the floor of a workshop watching someone create, fix, or make something - doesn't matter what, it could be a mechanic, a carpenter, a builder of boats, a gardener, an artist, even an old woman knitting - I just love seeing something being created from bits of stuff that are just things, but in the hands of the right person something is created or mended or redesigned, and the things get changed, through the course of an idea or knowledge they can become something else - it's sort of similar - the driving point is that I want to learn and like learning by watching or talking - but I don't like watching everybody - I like watching people who are different or skilled or knowledgeable - people who don't mind someone sitting there staring at them and distracting them every so often with a million questions When I was growing up, a couple of members of my family worked at a pretty good uni (not the best - but up there with the good ones) and they used to act like I was nothing because I didn't want to go off and be a lawyer - it was all about money, prestige and respect for them... I couldn't be bothered with all that, I'd rather spend an hour watching my grandpa fixing his car or listening to him talk about fixing spitfires, because it wasn't about anything other than interest and amusement because of the things they did to get those planes off the ground in the war - because it was about innovation and using whatever you had at hand to do the job, and that struck me as being a leap of creativity, sure, my grandpa was not a rich man, but I found I could respect him. So for me - if I went to somewhere like Miiiilton Keeeynes I'd have to find the right people - the motivators, the innovators, the one's people think are nuts, the one's who can tell a good story - and the one's with loads of books in their office so I could see which one's they'd even read - and the one's who I could ask totally weird questions and who wouldn't tut or get angry but would rub their hands together and say "right then" as they kicked their brain into gear Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 30, 2012 Hmm, the professor 'everyone thinks is nuts'. When I was 8 or 9 I befriended an old gentleman, whom I must admit, looking back, everyone imagined to be a country bumpkin. I was attracted to his kindness and his gentleness. When he died I insisted on going to his funeral, and there it emerged that he was quite a genius and had, in his time, designed loop systems for hearing aids. I can kinda relate to that thing about people who are really good at something, whatever that may be. It's amazing when such people are in flow, and work instinctively. It is beautiful. I can't entirely accurately locate the dusty study imagery in my life. I think it comes from a sense of general displacement. My real dad, whom I met only briefly when I was 18 was a prominent psychologist. I lived on a council estate with my mum, and later my step-family. I found school-work easy and was in the top three in my year, but I left at 18 and got married ( to a good'un, though), and took several low- skilled jobs. I left work when I had my eldest 9 years ago and have since been lokking after my children while C works. So now, as I said before, OU is a kind of coming home. I'm not into academia for prominence sake, but I do think I could be contented spending my life reading research papers. I sound hideously boring, don't I? I'm not usually so open about this (and especially not on the OU forums, lol!). Your Grandpa sounds wonderful. My granny was not distinguished in any of the usual markers of success, but she was quietly competent on a practical level in a way that made the lives of the people around here more comfortable, and just being around her offered a lovely sense of security. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mannify Report post Posted June 30, 2012 I have lots of respect for abilities of all kinds, by the way, it's just that I have an awkward relationship with my own, such as they are. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
