ATAR Notes: Forum

Uni Stuff => General University Discussion and Queries => The University Journey Journal => Topic started by: KatherineGale on December 22, 2019, 09:01:45 pm

Title: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 22, 2019, 09:01:45 pm
I genuinely have no idea how to start this :)

I have just accepted an offer from Deakin for Occupational Therapy and am ecstatic! If you told me two years ago that I was going to be leaving home and going off to study OT, I would have laughed. My hearts been set on medicine since I was 8, maybe earlier. I'm still just as determined to stumble my way into medicine, but I've learnt the hard way that sometimes, to no fault of your own, life dictates a different path.

I decided early on in the year that I wasn't going to apply for Monash Direct Entry, a course I was determined for years to try my hand at. I didn't sit the UCAT, I didn't spend my year meticulously counting every mark, and when it came time for ATAR's to be released, I didn't spend the whole night wide awake as the time ticked towards 7 - all of which I certainly would have if medicine was my first preference. Instead, I focussed on my health - I've recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which I suspect I've had since early childhood, and fibromyalgia, which I've had since I was 12. I knew that I would've had a good shot at Direct Entry, but what would crush me more than not getting into the course, would be getting in and having to decline the offer because my health wasn't up to par.

Looking forward though, uni is a daunting prospect. It's completely out of my comfort zone.  No one in my close family has gone to uni and I have no clue what I'm getting myself into but I'm excited to find out :) I am looking at places to live - likely a share house - so I'll probably update this when I find somewhere. I have been on Deakin's HouseMe website, which has been helpful. I've never been to Geelong (why does my tablet keep auto correcting Geelong to Feeling?) but I have registered for the enrolment day on the 22nd Jan.  I'll update sometime after that and talk about how that went.

So, in the spirit of doing things out of my comfort zone, I figured I'd start this thread, so I can look back on this if I ever burn out or need to remind myself of why I'm about to spend the next couple of decades racking up debt and losing my mind over deadlines and assessments :)

And, don't mind the title - it's sort of just a personal reminder that I've been through a lot and can get through whatever comes next. It also used to be one of MND's slogans - I don't know if it still is - and given that my father passed away from motor neuron disease coming up on a decade ago (before any one really knew it existed), I figured it'd be a good way to really kick that reminder home.

How do I sign this off?  Please feel free to ask me any questions. I'll try to update fairly regularly once I get started next year, but might only post a few more times before then.




Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: jkay__ on December 22, 2019, 11:18:17 pm
Hey, this is incredibly inspiring, and despite all you've been through, you pulled through!! If you can get into OT, you can shoot for the stars the way you're right now. Your post also reminded me of my friend, who had crippling back problems throughout High School, but still pulled an amazing score and is now going for Medicine through a postgrad pathway (as you are too!).

Your adventure is definitely one I'm very interested in, as even with your shortcomings, you still hold your chin up so high!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 23, 2019, 11:39:13 am
Hey, this is incredibly inspiring, and despite all you've been through, you pulled through!! If you can get into OT, you can shoot for the stars the way you're right now. Your post also reminded me of my friend, who had crippling back problems throughout High School, but still pulled an amazing score and is now going for Medicine through a postgrad pathway (as you are too!).

Your adventure is definitely one I'm very interested in, as even with your shortcomings, you still hold your chin up so high!


Hi jkay__!

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

That's another reason why I wanted to post this in a public forum - I know there are many kids/young adults/people in general out there struggling with health issues and the demands of studying. I myself had to do Year 12 over two years due to my health problems and as much as it frustrated me to have graduated high school aged 19 coming on 20, it was that or drop out, and that's okay.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really see or talk to or even hear about many people who have similar struggles with health and study - I know they're out there somewhere :)  (probably even on atarnotes)  So if I can make even one person feel like they're not alone in their battle, then I can't ask for much more.

I mean, take it from someone who was treated like a hypochondriac by doctors and 'friends' and teachers for most of high school - because what 12 year old would have chronic back pain that leaves them bedridden after no injury and with nothing showing on scans or test?  - you can get through it and you can get some quality of life back if you keep persisting (also, getting a second opinion is always a good idea).

Sorry for the rant. I wish your friend all the very best. They sound incredibly resilient. I hope their health has improved.

Thank you again. Before I started this, I actually had a look though a couple of other threads and found yours. Really interested to follow along your journey as well!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost on December 23, 2019, 12:31:45 pm
I genuinely have no idea how to start this :)

I have just accepted an offer from Deakin for Occupational Therapy and am ecstatic! If you told me two years ago that I was going to be leaving home and going off to study OT, I would have laughed. My hearts been set on medicine since I was 8, maybe earlier. I'm still just as determined to stumble my way into medicine, but I've learnt the hard way that sometimes, to no fault of your own, life dictates a different path.

I decided early on in the year that I wasn't going to apply for Monash Direct Entry, a course I was determined for years to try my hand at. I didn't sit the UCAT, I didn't spend my year meticulously counting every mark, and when it came time for ATAR's to be released, I didn't spend the whole night wide awake as the time ticked towards 7 - all of which I certainly would have if medicine was my first preference. Instead, I focussed on my health - I've recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which I suspect I've had since early childhood, and fibromyalgia, which I've had since I was 12. I knew that I would've had a good shot at Direct Entry, but what would crush me more than not getting into the course, would be getting in and having to decline the offer because my health wasn't up to par.

Looking forward though, uni is a daunting prospect. It's completely out of my comfort zone.  No one in my close family has gone to uni and I have no clue what I'm getting myself into but I'm excited to find out :) I am looking at places to live - likely a share house - so I'll probably update this when I find somewhere. I have been on Deakin's HouseMe website, which has been helpful. I've never been to Geelong (why does my tablet keep auto correcting Geelong to Feeling?) but I have registered for the enrolment day on the 22nd Jan.  I'll update sometime after that and talk about how that went.

So, in the spirit of doing things out of my comfort zone, I figured I'd start this thread, so I can look back on this if I ever burn out or need to remind myself of why I'm about to spend the next couple of decades racking up debt and losing my mind over deadlines and assessments :)

And, don't mind the title - it's sort of just a personal reminder that I've been through a lot and can get through whatever comes next. It also used to be one of MND's slogans - I don't know if it still is - and given that my father passed away from motor neuron disease coming up on a decade ago (before any one really knew it existed), I figured it'd be a good way to really kick that reminder home.

How do I sign this off?  Please feel free to ask me any questions. I'll try to update fairly regularly once I get started next year, but might only post a few more times before then.

Hi!

I am so happy for you. You are so inspiring. I can't wait to see what uni life holds for you. I have no doubt it will be bright and fruitful. I'm also starting Uni next year and I am also so scared since it is way out of my comfort zone. I can't wait to read more and follow you along your journey, good luck (: not that you need it though, you are already amazing.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 23, 2019, 09:01:51 pm
Hi!

I am so happy for you. You are so inspiring. I can't wait to see what uni life holds for you. I have no doubt it will be bright and fruitful. I'm also starting Uni next year and I am also so scared since it is way out of my comfort zone. I can't wait to read more and follow you along your journey, good luck (: not that you need it though, you are already amazing.

Hey yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost!

I really appreciate that and am glad there are people interested in reading this! Good luck next year - I'm sure that it will turn out fine :) I think going out of my comfort zone is going to be a good thing for me, no matter how much I know I will dislike it at the time. I hope its also a good change for you!

I've built myself a nice, routine comfort zone the last few years. I haven't actually "gone" to school since early 2015 - my health got to the point where I could no longer attend school, so I studied with Distance Education. It's going to be so weird to be in a "classroom" with actual people again :) Just the thought of going between classes is giving me flashbacks, haha

And believe me, I need all the good luck I can get, so I'll take it! :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 24, 2019, 01:13:37 am
I figured I would give another update now that I've had some time to finish and think over my enrolment (it still doesn't feel real to be honest!). For Occupational Therapy the course is pretty set in stone, most of the units are the same for everyone. But because I have to go and complicate everything, I managed to completely change it around, of course :)


TRIMESTER 1
HBS109          Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology                         Waurn Ponds   
HSO102          Foundations of Occupational Science and Therapy A    Waterfront   
HDS101          Communication and Diversity                                          Online

TRIMESTER 2   
HSE102           Functional Human Anatomy                                            Waurn Ponds   
HSE208           Integrated Human Physiology                                         Waurn Ponds      
HSO104           Foundations of Occupational Science and Therapy B    Waterfront   
            
TRIMESTER 3   
HBS107          Understanding Health                                                       Online   
IND101           Introduction to Aboriginal Studies                                      Online


I'm still unsure about Semester 1 - I've been thinking about changing Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology to online, as the face-to-face time is a lot more demanding, and change Communication and Diversity to on-campus instead, but I am also wondering if going face to face will help me learn the work for Anatomy and Physiology better? At the same time though, if I'm missing every other class, I won't be learning much. What do you guys think? I am leaning towards changing it to online.

I decided early on that to try and keep up with the demands of uni, I'd do it over the three trimesters, rather than two, and I'm used to doing work online, so that'll be more familiar for me anyway.

I know I can't yet keep up with full time - I'm not going to try pushing past my limit again, because that made me drop from 4 subjects down to 1 this past year - but I'm on a new medication that seems to be working reasonably (but it makes me sick for two days straight each week). I don't want to drop down to part time unless I absolutely have to though, so the whole 3 trimester thing will hopefully help, and making it a balanced mix of on campus and online will also, hopefully, take that pressure off of me.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this :)

-----------------------------------------
Ah! I can't get the columns aligned! It's so frustrating, my apologies for anyone like me who is bothered by that kind of thing! I tried, but they're still slightly out I think :)

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on December 24, 2019, 10:18:44 am
Congratulations on your offer and getting past all these obstacles life has thrown at you! I'm really excited to follow your journey through OT.
I'm sure you're already aware of it but make sure you register with your uni's equivalent of Disability Support Services (this is what its called at Monash, idk what its called at Deakin). I've been registered with them since first year for various health issues and they've been so helpful and supportive and have made uni a lot easier to get through.

Re: your anatomy unit - I'd assume you can always change it before census date? So maybe give it a go for a few weeks when uni starts and then you can decide whether you want to keep it on campus or change it to online.

Re: living in Geelong - haven't personally lived there but have been to visit (such a lovely place!). I'd recommend looking for a place to live using something like flatmates.com.au - its where I found my current housemate!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 27, 2019, 12:32:57 pm
Congratulations on your offer and getting past all these obstacles life has thrown at you! I'm really excited to follow your journey through OT.
I'm sure you're already aware of it but make sure you register with your uni's equivalent of Disability Support Services (this is what its called at Monash, idk what its called at Deakin). I've been registered with them since first year for various health issues and they've been so helpful and supportive and have made uni a lot easier to get through.

Re: your anatomy unit - I'd assume you can always change it before census date? So maybe give it a go for a few weeks when uni starts and then you can decide whether you want to keep it on campus or change it to online.

Re: living in Geelong - haven't personally lived there but have been to visit (such a lovely place!). I'd recommend looking for a place to live using something like flatmates.com.au - its where I found my current housemate!

Hi K888!

Thank you very much! I'll definitely register with Deakin's version.

Yes, I still have a fair bit of time to change it if I decide to, but I sort of wanted to go into it with everything like that taken care of, if that makes sense. I don't want to really mess around and change it once I start if I don't have to, but it's good to have that option available.

I'll definitely have a look at that website, thank you! I've found a couple of places that look promising, but I am still keeping an eye out.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: caffinatedloz on January 02, 2020, 07:33:29 am
Hey Katherine!
Just found your journal and I'm very, very interested to hear all about how you find studying OT, and learn more about you! When I was younger, I always thought that I wanted to be a doctor, but now I'm thinking that allied health might be more my thing. (I think) that the best bit of OT (depending on who and where you end up working with), is that children enjoy sessions with their OT's. Often doctors and physios are not liked at much by kids as OTs. With adults, it could be a totally different story, but I've heard similar things. Because OT is focused on helping an individual achieve something that they would like to, patients understand the purpose and can get behind it. Plus, the kiddos often think it's just playtime!

I hope that you find OT rewarding and enjoyable, and that your Uni subjects learning about it will be useful and interesting!

Looking forward to hearing more!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 04, 2020, 02:37:41 pm
Hey Katherine!
Just found your journal and I'm very, very interested to hear all about how you find studying OT, and learn more about you! When I was younger, I always thought that I wanted to be a doctor, but now I'm thinking that allied health might be more my thing. (I think) that the best bit of OT (depending on who and where you end up working with), is that children enjoy sessions with their OT's. Often doctors and physios are not liked at much by kids as OTs. With adults, it could be a totally different story, but I've heard similar things. Because OT is focused on helping an individual achieve something that they would like to, patients understand the purpose and can get behind it. Plus, the kiddos often think it's just playtime!

I hope that you find OT rewarding and enjoyable, and that your Uni subjects learning about it will be useful and interesting!

Looking forward to hearing more!

Hey laura_

If allied health is more suited to you, go for it. I think allied health can be a lot more rewarding for most people - it's more patient interaction based, rather than how clinical being a doctor can be. If I wasn't so dead set on paediatrics, I'd happily spend my time as an occupational therapist - which is one of the reasons I decided to take it as an undergraduate course. I know I'm going to get so much from it and that experience is going to translate into better patient care when I am finally a doctor.

I might be wrong but I think being a doctor is hyped up a lot due to prestige and possibly monetary factors - not saying that applies to you, just that there is a general stigma around it that often doesn't live up to the reality.  I don't know, I'm not working in health care yet, but from the outside, I've always sort of seen allied health as patient care and being a doctor as treating diseases and illnesses, rather than patients (not all doctors are like that though). I don't want to be that kind of doctor though, hence my choice of undergraduate degree as opposed to something like science.

Sorry I got off topic :)

Whilst I am excited about all aspects of OT, I am one hundred percent most interested in working with children :) so I definitely agree! I want to be a paediatrician long term, but within that, I want to specialise in diagnosing, treating, guiding and caring for children with disabilities - and also their families because having a child with disabilities is a major shift in family dynamics, at least from my experience. I certainly feel naive looking back to when my niece was diagnosed with severe autism (and a plethora of other health issues because she is an ex-24-weeker). My family and I had no idea the rollercoaster we were about to embark on, and we're still learning, seven years later.

Thank you!!!

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: caffinatedloz on January 05, 2020, 07:08:27 am
If allied health is more suited to you, go for it. I think allied health can be a lot more rewarding for most people - it's more patient interaction based, rather than how clinical being a doctor can be. If I wasn't so dead set on paediatrics, I'd happily spend my time as an occupational therapist - which is one of the reasons I decided to take it as an undergraduate course. I know I'm going to get so much from it and that experience is going to translate into better patient care when I am finally a doctor.

I might be wrong but I think being a doctor is hyped up a lot due to prestige and possibly monetary factors - not saying that applies to you, just that there is a general stigma around it that often doesn't live up to the reality.  I don't know, I'm not working in health care yet, but from the outside, I've always sort of seen allied health as patient care and being a doctor as treating diseases and illnesses, rather than patients (not all doctors are like that though). I don't want to be that kind of doctor though, hence my choice of undergraduate degree as opposed to something like science.

Sorry I got off topic :)

Whilst I am excited about all aspects of OT, I am one hundred percent most interested in working with children :) so I definitely agree! I want to be a paediatrician long term, but within that, I want to specialise in diagnosing, treating, guiding and caring for children with disabilities - and also their families because having a child with disabilities is a major shift in family dynamics, at least from my experience. I certainly feel naive looking back to when my niece was diagnosed with severe autism (and a plethora of other health issues because she is an ex-24-weeker). My family and I had no idea the rollercoaster we were about to embark on, and we're still learning, seven years later.
Thanks Katherine! I absolutely agree and I think we have a lot in common. I always thought I wanted to work in paediatrics before I realised that my specific passion was children with disabilities. Welcoming a child with a disability into a family often does cause a major shift in dynamics. With the NDIS, families have more access to specialists who can accompany them on the rollercoaster. I think that holistic family support is so important for good outcomes. It sounds like you have a real passion for caring people and there is no doubt that you will be an absolutely fantastic OT! I think that having personal experience will only serve to enhance everything you learn as you have a real understanding about etiquette and generally interacting with people with disabilities; (and yes it really is a lifelong journey of learning)! I really appreciate your wonderfully detailed reply! ;D
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 06, 2020, 05:25:57 pm
Thanks Katherine! I absolutely agree and I think we have a lot in common. I always thought I wanted to work in paediatrics before I realised that my specific passion was children with disabilities. Welcoming a child with a disability into a family often does cause a major shift in dynamics. With the NDIS, families have more access to specialists who can accompany them on the rollercoaster. I think that holistic family support is so important for good outcomes. It sounds like you have a real passion for caring people and there is no doubt that you will be an absolutely fantastic OT! I think that having personal experience will only serve to enhance everything you learn as you have a real understanding about etiquette and generally interacting with people with disabilities; (and yes it really is a lifelong journey of learning)! I really appreciate your wonderfully detailed reply! ;D

Thank you :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 07, 2020, 11:21:44 pm
Okay, update time!

Today I went down to the Waterfront and Waurn Ponds campus. I didn't go in, but had a drive around to get to know the area. It was even better than I was expecting - both campuses seemed inviting and whilst the waterfront campus was in an absolutely beautiful area, something about the Waurn ponds campus also had some charm :) I don't know, I like both! I love being near the ocean, but I am not a city person so the Waurn ponds campus seems more appealing. I guess I'll get plenty of time at both for the next four years.

My reason for tackling the two hour drive (each way) along the dreadful Monash Freeway (so glad I didn't have to drive) was because I finally locked in a house and signed a lease! It makes me feel better to have a place organised, because the other rooms were getting snatched up so quickly, I was starting to worry about getting any within my budget. Well, not only is this within my budget (though, in my opinion, still dreadfully overpriced) I have a walk in wardrobe and a TV in my room, and I'm only to be sharing with 5 other people rather than some houses that hold up to 14, but more importantly, it's only a few minutes walk from campus! Given my mum misplaced my birth certificate for a few years and I therefore still only have my L's, this will make life a lot easier for me, because I can just walk. It's also close to the shops, which is even better.

On a side note, I started packing yesterday. I asked my family to give practical gifts for Christmas and my birthday which just passed on the 3rd, and started buying some basic things late last year myself, so I've got a pretty good set up so far. I have a couple of things that I still need, but I think I'm pretty right considering I don't need to move until mid February. Still, I've got a pile in the corner of my room that is already starting to drive me mad, so I think I need to buy some more boxes or something :) I'm going to end up leaving a lot of stuff with my family, but they are going to end up moving sometime next year, so I figure I'll pack up the rest of my stuff too so it's easier.

I will, unfortunately, need to leave my precious book collection at home :( Except for school books, which I usually gave to the school for students that couldn't afford them to use, and a series of like 50 books I had as a kid of something I can't remember, I've kept every book I can remember, even ones from as a kid. I plan to keep doing this for the rest of my life - though I doubt hard copy books are going to be popular in the future - because I love being able to be able to look at them and see how my love for reading had developed and changed. So leaving them behind will be hard, but I can't cart around a couple of hundred books every where I go :) as much as I would like to haha

Also, side note, do you guys think it's impractical to bring large furniture into a living situation where you rent a room? I have a large whiteboard on a stand, because I'm a little eccentric like that :) and it really helps me to write up a big calendar and keep track of it easily. It will fit in the room reasonably, but I just feel a bit weird with the idea of rolling it through the front door when I move in haha.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Sine on January 08, 2020, 12:10:41 am
Also, side note, do you guys think it's impractical to bring large furniture into a living situation where you rent a room? I have a large whiteboard on a stand, because I'm a little eccentric like that :) and it really helps me to write up a big calendar and keep track of it easily. It will fit in the room reasonably, but I just feel a bit weird with the idea of rolling it through the front door when I move in haha.
If you know you are going to be using it and obviously, if it is allowed I don't see why not.

Also, you will only need to bring it in once and I doubt people are too concerned for a whiteboard especially if it will fit in the room.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Chocolatemilkshake on January 08, 2020, 06:45:36 am
Hi Katherine,

Just found your journal. I think it's super inspiring to hear you put your health first in VCE and I'm excited to read about your pathway though the OT course and how you find it. Also can totally relate to clinging on to books! Even the smell of books is wonderful, but I'm sure you can buy a few new ones when your there  :D Also using a whiteboard for a calendar may be eccentric but I think it sounds kinda cool and very organised!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on January 08, 2020, 10:43:30 am
Quote from: KatherineGale
Also, side note, do you guys think it's impractical to bring large furniture into a living situation where you rent a room? I have a large whiteboard on a stand, because I'm a little eccentric like that :) and it really helps me to write up a big calendar and keep track of it easily. It will fit in the room reasonably, but I just feel a bit weird with the idea of rolling it through the front door when I move in haha.
Definitely not the weirdest thing you'll see people have in their rooms. Go for it! :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 08, 2020, 02:27:50 pm
If you know you are going to be using it and obviously, if it is allowed I don't see why not.

Also, you will only need to bring it in once and I doubt people are too concerned for a whiteboard especially if it will fit in the room.

Thanks Sine! Good point in that I only have to wheel it through once.

Hi Katherine,

Just found your journal. I think it's super inspiring to hear you put your health first in VCE and I'm excited to read about your pathway though the OT course and how you find it. Also can totally relate to clinging on to books! Even the smell of books is wonderful, but I'm sure you can buy a few new ones when your there  :D Also using a whiteboard for a calendar may be eccentric but I think it sounds kinda cool and very organised!

Hi Chocolatemilkshake,

Thank you! Well, I tried my best to put my health first during VCE, sometimes it was easier said than done, but my health is in a better place now, at the end of VCE than it was when it started, so I'll take that as a plus, even if it was a long, difficult road.

I get what you mean about the smell of books :) I know its better for the environment to have books online now, but I must admit it was a difficult transition for me - someone who is more inept with technology than my 58 year old mother - to begin reading books on my tablet. Bear with me while my weirdness reappears, but there is nothing like the sensory experience of reading a book (the smell, the feel of worn paper, the sound of pages turning etc.) it just sets a different environment for reading.

Definitely not the weirdest thing you'll see people have in their rooms. Go for it! :)

Hi K888,

Haha, probably not! Just wasn't sure I wanted that to be my first impression on the people I'll be living with for the next year :) Oh well, they will discover I'm weird and a little eccentric eventually anyway, haha
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 17, 2020, 05:54:56 pm
Okay, update time.

Deakin students have been given access to a provisional timetable, so I've gone through and put together how, ideally, my timetable for Semester 1 2020 might look. I couldn't figure out how to add the timetable, so I just attached it instead (otherwise trying to line everything up would have driven me mad haha).

For those who don't want to click, I'll list it below (I just find timetables to be a lot clearer):

Monday
-Weeks 1-3 only WP HBS109 11:00-11:50 C1
-Weeks 1-3 only WP HBS109 04:00-04:50 C2
-Weeks 2, 5, 7, 9 WP HBS109 01:00-03:00 P1

Tuesday

Wednesday
-Weeks 1-11 WF HSO102 10:00-10:50 C1
-Weeks 1-11 WF HSO102 12:00-12:50 S1

Thursday
-Weeks 1-11 WF HSO102 09:00-04:50 P1

Friday
-Weeks 1-11 WP HBS109 12:00-12:50 S1
-Weeks 1-11 ON HDS101 02:00-04:00

Keys:
WP=Waurn Ponds
WF=Waterfront
ON=Online
C=class
S=seminar
P=practical
HBS109=Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology
HSO102=Foundations of Occupational Science and Therapy A
HDS101=Communication and Diversity


Overall, I'm pretty happy with my timetable (of course, this is only if I get the times/days I want, which isn't guaranteed). If I do end up with these times, I think it's probably the best timetable I could ask for - other than the first three weeks, I only have classes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, except for every other week, when I also have a practical on Monday. I'm pretty happy that most days I'll also have an hour or so break between classes as it will allow me to have a break, or do a bit of study before the next class.

At the same time though, seeing my timetable in black and white has really solidified everything for me. I was feeling pretty confident, nervous and unsure, but confident that it'd be fine. Whilst I still have this confidence, I'm a little less sure of my ability to cope with the workload.

I was always going into this knowing that I would likely have to drop down to part time, but I really want to give it a go without dropping down (both because I'll have extra requirements from Centrelink - having to see a job agency every fortnight and that will wear me out further - and also because I want to be able to complete the degree within the allocated four years, rather than eight). The medication my rheumatologist has me on makes me feel pretty sick and dizzy a lot, so instead of adding more medications like anti-nausea, she's changed my prescription from pills to self-administered injections (my god, my poor future roommates aren't going to have a great first impression of me haha) to try and avoid some of those side effects. Hopefully that'll work.

It's the first three weeks (as the extra classes on Monday are making me a little nervous), and Thursday's that have me concerned. The longest I've gotten through a "class" in the last five years, was the year 12 exams, and even then I had the option to stop and take a break if I needed to - let alone to do 9:00-4:50 every week, and travelling 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back (the travel alone would be enough to put me out of action for a few hours most days)

In saying that, the best I can do is stay positive and give it a try. I can always drop down to part time, even though it's not what I want to do, if I can't cope with the workload. It just became a lot more real when I started mapping out the times and I don't want to have my health issues get worse because I've pushed myself too soon (again).

Being able to choose to do HDS101 online on whatever day suits me best also helps, so I'm tossing up between Monday and Friday. I think I'll do Friday for the first three weeks (as Monday's for the first 3 weeks are pretty booked up) and then swap to Monday's for the rest of the Semester as that way I won't leave it to the end of the week and then put it off and not end up doing it, but I've just left it on Friday on the timetable for now.

That's really it for now. I've got the Enrolment day on the 22nd (next Wednesday) at the Waterfront campus. I've booked a hotel nearby for the night before (I had some change from the bond for the house I signed a lease for as I had saved up more than I needed), because I don't really feel like getting up super early to get there on time (my sleep habits are terrible, so the time I'd usually be able to finally fall asleep is the time I'd need to get up and because my body hates me, something as simple as not getting enough sleep can set off a flare up, so I thought I wouldn't take my chances).

I'll probably give an update around then to talk about how that went - I'm really interested to see the campus in person and also to meet some people that I'll be studying alongside - I'm not exactly the most social person out there (if you can't already tell from my rambling in these posts, just know that I'm much worse in person hahaha) but I'm certainly going to give it a go.

I figure there will be a lot of other people more nervous than I am and if there isn't, I'd much rather focus on enjoying the experience anyway. To be honest, somewhere in the days on being pretty much homeschooled the last five or so years, I have lost the ability to really care too much about what people think of me :) Caring about what people think of you can also be a good thing like when you take into account being respectful to others around you, but I've also seen it be really destructive for others, when they care too much about what others think. I figure most other people will be too wrapped up thinking about what others think of them to care about me and how awkward I am :)

(sorry for the ridiculously long posts - this used to happen when writing essays for me as well, I'd sit down with not much to say and somehow finish off with far more than I really should have written haha)

I still feel really awkward typing this all out, so I really do appreciate the replies - it makes me feel like I'm not just blabbering on to a computer :) Let me know what you guys think about my timetable

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on January 17, 2020, 06:21:21 pm
Quote
I figure there will be a lot of other people more nervous than I am and if there isn't, I'd much rather focus on enjoying the experience anyway. To be honest, somewhere in the days on being pretty much homeschooled the last five or so years, I have lost the ability to really care too much about what people think of me :) Caring about what people think of you can also be a good thing like when you take into account being respectful to others around you, but I've also seen it be really destructive for others, when they care too much about what others think. I figure most other people will be too wrapped up thinking about what others think of them to care about me and how awkward I am :)
Tbh I've found uni to be an incredibly un-judgy place. Noone cares what you wear or do, people tend to be understanding of most things and most people are pretty welcoming. I'd say I can carry out a convo with the majority of people in my cohort at uni quite easily, but that definitely wasn't the case in high school!

Best of luck for uni :) You don't really know how your schedule will go until you get in there but I found the first few weeks of uni probably the most tiring just because of all the new things to adjust to. Prep a lot of meals in advance if you can to save the energy of cooking!

As I think I've suggested previously, definitely get in touch with the disability support services people :) You could probs do it now given you're enrolled in the course, actually. And mention your circumstances to your lecturers/tutors too - if there's someone who oversees your first year of OT they'd defs be a good person to get in touch with! In my experience I've found everyone to be really understanding of medical conditions (and I reckon given you're doing a health-related degree too, that really helps with their understanding) so I hope you have the same luck :)
Good luck with switching your meds around - I hope the change to injections helps with those side effects!!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 21, 2020, 12:01:57 am
Tbh I've found uni to be an incredibly un-judgy place. Noone cares what you wear or do, people tend to be understanding of most things and most people are pretty welcoming. I'd say I can carry out a convo with the majority of people in my cohort at uni quite easily, but that definitely wasn't the case in high school!

Best of luck for uni :) You don't really know how your schedule will go until you get in there but I found the first few weeks of uni probably the most tiring just because of all the new things to adjust to. Prep a lot of meals in advance if you can to save the energy of cooking!

As I think I've suggested previously, definitely get in touch with the disability support services people :) You could probs do it now given you're enrolled in the course, actually. And mention your circumstances to your lecturers/tutors too - if there's someone who oversees your first year of OT they'd defs be a good person to get in touch with! In my experience I've found everyone to be really understanding of medical conditions (and I reckon given you're doing a health-related degree too, that really helps with their understanding) so I hope you have the same luck :)
Good luck with switching your meds around - I hope the change to injections helps with those side effects!!

Thanks K888!

Yes, I'm expecting the first little bit to be the toughest. I love cooking, so I'll probably stock up on containers and spend a day before O-Week just cooking :) If I'm not careful I'll end up with enough food for a couple of months haha.

I will get in touch with the disability services. I was thinking about enquiring on Enrollment Day. Maybe I could meet with them in person, but it could be too busy.

Thank you :)

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 22, 2020, 11:04:21 pm
Hey guys!

I had enrolment day today, so I wanted to give an update :)

I really enjoyed it. I hadn't been to the waterfront campus before, so it was great to have a look around (though I did get lost for a moment, haha).

I found a group on Facebook through 2020 Deakin Uni First Years, so I had a chat with some of the other students going to the OT enrolment day. We decided to meet up out the front, so it was great to meet them, along with a few others who hadn't been on the chat.

We ended up in a lecture theatre, with one of our future teachers giving us a bit of an introduction into the course. A lot of it were things that I knew, but I still think that it was worth going.

I spoke with the lecturer afterwards (I'm so sorry that I can't remember her name, but I'm so bad with names haha) she seems lovely, very approachable, and that's great considering she will teach one of the busiest units in T1&2 (and units in year 3&4).

Afterwards, I went to student central to ask a few questions - like about getting a DRC Plan for my health issues. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak with anyone that could help, but they gave me a number of emails addresses, so I sent off some emails this afternoon.

I've also felt a bit more concerned about the workload. The lecturer mentioned a number of times that just the unit she teaches is very full on, particularly in the first trimester. I considered dropping down to part time, but it will just end up too complicated with Centrelink (because going to see a job agency each week would be the same energy as going into another class, so it feels a bit counterproductive) and also because I've just been offered a scholarship and I don't want to jeopardize it by going part time - I was and still am simply shocked at the scholarship I received (a Deakin student support scholarship) for $7500 per year for four years! This makes me feel a lot less concerned, particularly as I just found out that every thursday, (that big practical I've been most concerned about that goes from 9:00-5:00), isn't held on campus every time - a lot of the time we'll be travelling off campus to various places to watch and eventually participate in practicals and we have to get there ourselves. Without the scholarship, there is no way I'd have been able to afford travel too and from this as I really struggle on public transport.

So I ended up deciding that of my three T1 units, two will be online, rather than one as I had previously stated, so I'll write down an updated version of my units somewhere below :)

I also didn't end up getting my student ID, though I could have (I just didn't want to wait around any longer as I wanted to avoid some traffic on the way home) so that's something I'll do online in the next couple of days.

My Units as they stand now (I'm indecisive so they could change still and this is just from the provisional timetable so I might not get these times):

MONDAY:
ON-HBS109 M1 10:00-11:00 (or whenever I want)
ON-HBS109 P1 12:00-03:00 (or whenever I want) every other week

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:
WF-HSO102 C1 10:00-11:00
WF-HSO102 S1 12:00-01:00

THURSDAY:
WF-HSO102 P1 09:00-05:00

FRIDAY:
ON-HBS109 S1 12:00-01:00
ON-HDS101 M1 02:00-04:00 (or whenever I want)

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: caffinatedloz on January 26, 2020, 01:34:24 pm
That all sounds wonderful Katherine! I'm so glad you got to meet some great students and that your lecturer seems so approachable. Best of luck figuring out and adjusting to the workload! <3
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 27, 2020, 06:11:35 pm
That all sounds wonderful Katherine! I'm so glad you got to meet some great students and that your lecturer seems so approachable. Best of luck figuring out and adjusting to the workload! <3

Thank you :)

Also, just on an unrelated side note, I just realised how much I've still got to do before I go in less than a month!  Haha,  oh no..
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 06, 2020, 05:22:16 pm
Hey guys,

Okay, so a bit has happened since my last post.

Basically, I've been wondering more and more how I'm going to cope with just the day to day stuff - getting to classes, doing the school work etc. Stressing about it doesn't help, so I've been trying to figure out different options. I went through a good patch, but the last couple of weeks have been a lot tougher.

By making another unit online, as I mentioned I did in one of my previous posts, I was able to reduce this worry a fair bit. However it's been on the back of my mind a lot, and when I had a couple of bad flare up days - not as bad as the flare-ups I was getting, but still pretty bad - I knew I had to try and think of something else to help as well.

I thought for a bit that maybe I could get a taxi to the uni and back each day I need to be there (or at least to the Waurn ponds campus so I can get a shuttle bus to the waterfront campus) because taking that extra effort out of each day would make everything a bit easier but that really wasn't an option financially.

And then an amazing opportunity landed on my lap. I got a call from Deakin and they basically said that because they mucked up my student accommodation application - they offered me a room in Warrnambool when I got accepted to my course in Geelong - that they could offer me a room at Waurn ponds. This completely solves one of my worries, which was getting to the campus the days I need to.

And even better, it's a studio apartment! I've got a kitchenette and ensuite, and more importantly, I can control my environment. With the symptoms I get - photophobia, fibrofog, pain etc. - this is ideal for me, so that should also make this year of study a bit easier on me.

I mean, I certainly couldn't ask my stranger roomates to close all the blinds, not turn on any lights and hang towels up in the corners of the blinds to make sure no light gets through when I'm having a bad day (I had planned on just staying in my room, but there was always the issue of accessing the bathroom and cooking on those days).

I've spoken to my landlord and he was lovely. He understood my concerns and is trying to find someone else to take my room.

To reduce the concerns I still have about coping with uni, I'm sort of just tackling one symptom at a time :)

I still haven't figured out how to combat the fibro fog aspect of my health - basically I sometimes just can't think. It's really weird and I don't really know how to explain it. It's like trying to see through murky water. I can't concentrate, it feels like I'm out of it (kind of like when you go underwater and the pressure around you changes or when you've got a fever and everything is just distant), everything is just rushing at me and away from me at the same time, and sometimes when it's happening, completing the most basic of tasks like making sense of an email just becomes impossible. Hopefully I will figure out a way around this. It can happen at anytime and in the past I've just taken as long as I need to let it pass but that will be hard if I am in the middle of a class or practical.

I also really want to improve my memory. I've had terrible memory for a long time - I can't even remember since when haha :) I've recently learned that it's probably also due to the fibromyalgia. I've tried all the tricks but nothing really helps. I haven't given up though. I know writing things out a hundred times helps, but that can be hard as my hands cramp up. If anyone had any ideas, I'd love to give them a go :)

I also plan on going to the Waurn ponds campus gym as well. I think some gentle exercises on top of the stretches I already do will help to manage the pain.


Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 10, 2020, 05:50:57 pm
Put in my timetable preferences today. Fingers crossed :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Bri MT on February 11, 2020, 03:51:37 pm
Put in my timetable preferences today. Fingers crossed :)

How have you tried to plan it?
Least days is a pretty popular set up but I guess might not be a big priority given your accommodation? 
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 11, 2020, 09:38:04 pm
How have you tried to plan it?
Least days is a pretty popular set up but I guess might not be a big priority given your accommodation?

Hey Bri MT,

Yes,  living on campus certainly has made travel a lot less of an issue. When I was looking at my options, I was aiming for three to four days actually going in. I didn't want to condense it down too much because I probably wouldn't fair well, but I also want a weekday free for appointments and the like.

On my preferences, I actually only have two days of classes, and those are at the waterfront campus,  so there will be some travel. But I have decided to go into the library to do most of the online classes I'll have, so that I won't be stuck in my room and it will hopefully keep me motivated to get it done. I made my own little timetable,  given that I get my preferences, and I've scheduled them in as though they're actual classes and plan to attend them (albeit in the library), but I've also got the freedom to change that or do it at my own pace or in parts if I'm heaving a bad day health wise.

So if things turn out well, I'll have two half-days, Monday (Waurn Ponds library) and Tuesday (Waurn Ponds library) and two full days,  Wednesday (waterfront) and Thursday (waterfront).


Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 21, 2020, 05:52:55 pm
Update Time!

It's been a long week :)

On Monday I moved into the room at Deakin! It was a few hours drive because traffic was bad, and then when I got there, it was incredibly busy - getting a park was a bit of a saga in and of itself haha.

To get to my room, I had to line up and give my name. They then gave me a pack with my keys, some details about moving in etc. Then I lined up again in a different line and waited to get my photo taken. Then I had to go into another line, where I then had to sign the lease, go through some basic info, and then they got one of my residential leaders to take me to my room. So, all in all, a lot of waiting in lines :) The anticipation to move in had kind of worn off after the first hour and a half waiting, but I was still excited.

I didn't stay to look at my room for long because I wanted to start unloading all my stuff, but I was really happy with my room. It was bigger than I was expecting, so I was happy about that. They had a yearly planner poster for me to hang up and also a little pocket that I can stick to the back of my phone for my student id and other cards, which I thought was nice.

And then I had the joy of dragging all my stuff to my room haha. My mum drove, but she has health issues, so I was on my own with lifting everything in. It took far longer than I was hoping and I certainly regretted bringing so much - even though I really didn't pack all that much. But I got it all there in the end. And I also gained a sunburn haha. It was extremely difficult with my health issues and I knew I'd end up paying for it - and I did - but I brought a small trolley which helped a lot; I could just load stuff into the small baskets, push it to my room and then unload. Except the trolley is like those washing basket trolleys (I don't know what you call them?) that don't turn! Haha, I might have dropped a bit along the way when I shuffled it to try and get around corners :)

I went to the shops after that so that I had a little bit of stock for food and stuff.

By the time I got back, it was time to go upstairs for a meeting with the rest of the people in my building. The Residential Leaders were really nice and I met a few people who are in my building. We basically did people bingo and had to go around and find people to check of facts. I didn't do very well though haha.

After that, we headed down to the bus stop. People from the other buildings were also down there, already getting on the busses.  Once we were finally all on board, we headed to an arena and sat through a compulsory session about living in the residences. Then we came back and had pizza on the lawn.

Honestly, by the time I stumbled my way to bed, I was exhausted :)

The following days were full of another couple of compulsory meetings, a lot of free meals, a few voluntary activities - I didn't go off campus or do anything too exciting because my health issues were playing up a bit, which sucked. I sorted out a lot of stuff around campus - I briefly visited the library, I got my student ID, I started to unpack, went to the medical centre to get my files transferred, had a general look around the campus, I had to evaluate my room and then put in maintenance requests for anything that was broken, etc. just boring stuff really.

I still have a bit more to unpack, but I'm looking at just having a couple of more quiet days. I might read a book, put out a few homey things and settle in a bit more over the weekend. I had my first bad flare up since I've been on this medication, which was concerning because my rheumatologist recently upped my dosage, but I figured it was because I was pushing my body too much too soon, so I'm going to take it easy for a few days.

Now that I'm finally here and moved in though, I'm really pumped to get started on my course. Even though I've been so busy physically, I haven't really had any mental stimulation, so I can't wait to get into it all.

That's pretty much it for now. I'll probably give another update next week - I want to get into the routine of updating once a week.

Oh, and just a quick update on my health if anyone wants that:
I saw my rheumatologist a few days before I left and she was concerned because my inflammation markers were up a lot higher than they were when I first saw her. She was a bit worried at how much my disease had progressed just in the time I've been seeing her, particularly given the heavy meds she's had me on. So, she's upped my medication, will up it again in another month and then if my markers haven't come down much, she'll start testing out add-ons to see if that helps. I asked her if there was anything I could do to get myself to a better place, but she said no. That's why when I had that bad flare up, I knew it was time to slow down a bit - I need to learn to listen to my body and know when I've pushed myself too far. So, it's just wait and see for now. Fingers crossed things back off in the next couple of months, but to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if after all the stuff I've done this week my markers have spiked again :/ Oh well, I need to stay positive and just focus on why I'm here, which is again, why I just can't wait to get started!





Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 28, 2020, 11:20:18 pm
Another update!

Honestly, there's not really anything to update, but I want to get into the habit of posting weekly :)

To be honest, I've had one of those weeks, where everything just goes a little wrong :)

I've dropped things, everything I touch seems to break, I've almost tripped over even more frequently than normal and I've had a couple of large incidences haha.

So, after I had a particularly rough day, I was in my little kitchen cooking. I had finally gotten over my deep fear of setting the fire alarm off, when, guess what happens? My fire alarm starts beeping. I immediately turn off the stove and start wafting a towel near the fire alarm to try and help and it stops and then starts again. Every 10 seconds it starts beeping again and I try wafting again! It's not working! I grab my phone ready to call reception and then it starts like flat out beeping. I have to admit, I panicked! If the firies are sent out, I have to pay for it, so thats $1500 I don't have. I just don't understand. I'm wafting the fire alarm, most of the smoke had dissipated and it was still going and I had made more smoke than that on other nights and it hadn't gone off.

And then I realised...

The fridge door was slightly ajar.

It was never the fire alarm, but the fridge right below it. I laughed at myself so hard that I had to leave my own room :) but seriously, I've never heard a fridge sound like that when left open, with sharp, shrill, quick, loud beeps.

Another incident to mention is that I was attacked by a spider the size of a 20c coin. I nearly set the fire alarm off because I sprayed so much spider spray but the ugly thing disappeared. I was laying on my bed when it sneak attack ran towards me on my covers. Haven't seen it since it dropped down the side of my bed and right now, I'm procrastinating to avoid going to bed so I don't come across it again. I'm genuinely terrified haha :) I have arachnophobia, not just the mild distaste for them that most people do. I still feel like I'm crawling with insects and it's been hours. How does something that big disappear in such a small space? Right in front of me? I don't understand. Now I'm worried it went into my covers in the gap at the end and is creeping around in there. Help me someone please :(

Other than those deeply traumatic experiences, I haven't done much this week. I settled in, unpacked a bit, ordered food online to be delivered and cringed a little at the dent in my bank account (I didn't spend much considering I ordered about three weeks worth of food and stocked up on some items I still hadn't gotten around to buying, but it still hurt to look at haha). I've committed to not just eating 2-minute noodles all year and making myself actual healthy or just delicious meals (like risotto, stir-fry, Pad Thai, etc.), so I spent a lot of this week writing out meal plans for dishes that had a lot of the same ingredients that I could buy in bulk to make each meal a little cheaper, hence why I ended up ordering so many days worth of food. (All around I got it down to about $8.50 a day including breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and snacks, but I'm not going to eat all that in a day, so it'll probably spread out across even more days. I hope to get the price down even further as I get more used to cooking for one)

I went through a period this week where I just couldn't sleep. As in, I had maybe a combination of 2.5 hours across three nights, broken up into short bursts, mostly between 7:00am and 8:00am. So that was frustrating, but I'm used to getting little sleep, so...

My family is coming to visit tomorrow, which will be great. Really looking forward to seeing them and giving my niece a big hug. She hasn't been well, so not being there to give her a cuddle and make her feel better has been hard. I spent my day niece-proofing my room because if there is anything to get, she will get to it :)

Next week is orientation week, so I'll go to a few events - a couple of tours and some compulsory OT sessions on the Wednesday.

Still have so much to organise haha. Haven't got police check or working with children's check yet. Thats on my to-do list for next week.

Waiting on a call back from my rheumatologist. As I've been essentially home schooled for the last five years or so, coming back into an environment with a lot of other students, whilst on medication that is mucking with my immune system, I've picked up a bit of a cough. I swear, I sneezed a hundred times today. I don't remember ever having a cold and just sneezing constantly - I though that was just an exaggeration seen in movies. I just need to see if I can take cough medicine with the medication I'm on because the pharmacist said he thinks I can but he wasn't sure.

Oh, and did I mention I got sunburnt on the day I moved in? Well, that's finally starting to fade. I'm normally paler than most walls, like glow in the dark white, but the sunburn turned me bright pink for a week (got my scalp too, though it's probably my fault - on this medication I'm meant to limit my time in the sun, wear sunscreen even in winter, and always be covered with a hat and at least a shawl - but it was too hot the day I moved in).

I caught the free shuttle bus between campuses for the first time, which was, well, sadly, the most exciting event of the week. I had to go to the Geelong council to get a sharps box for my needles, so when I got off the shuttle bus I just took a 10 minute stroll.

I had another couple of flare ups, albeit smaller ones, but it's still a bit disconcerting. I figure it's still just because I'm doing too much too soon and need to slow my pace down, but as I said, the most strenuous thing I did this week was go to the waterfront campus and take a short wall, so that sucks, but I've just got to build up to it I guess. In the past, buses and walking 'long' distances have always caused flare ups, so I'm really lucky that they haven't been anywhere near as bad. 6 months ago and I would have been writhing in pain for three days straight.

Oh and I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but I have also been in contact with the disability community at Deakin. They're lovely and have given me a plan to help me manage the workload.

Just a random mention, but I discovered an instrument that I want to learn how to play. In the past, I've always struggled to find a hobby. Sports was too difficult with my health, the strings of a guitar or piano were too difficult to play with my arthritic hands, which was actually why I ended up getting into reading and writing. But I finally found an instrument that I think I could eventually, with a lot of hard work, play. The Theremin! Haha, it's so interesting to watch people play it and I think practicing it would help stretch out my hands - though I doubt I would ever be able to play it well. I want to focus on work this year and my health, but I also really want something that's more for enjoyment and wellbeing. Don't know if I ever will end up getting to try it though as they cost between $500-$1000 and I could only find one school that teaches it in Victoria, which was a. Out of my budget anyway, and b. About 2.5 hours drive away.

As I said, bit of a boring update this week, but to be honest, I've kind of enjoyed the slower pace. Week 1 was hectic for me and I know it's only going to get busier, so it was great to have that time to settle in.

And as usual, I've managed to ramble on about absolutely nothing for an essay length. Haha, I genuinely don't know how this happens :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Bri MT on February 29, 2020, 09:10:33 am
Hey,

I have never heard a fridge do that either - would definitely panic me a lot too. I can so clearly imagine the relief and bewilderment of realising it was the fridge. (I really like your writing style btw)

Sleepless-ness sucks :( I hope you're able to get more rest soon.

Nice to hear about the sunburn fading & the family visit!  Hope you have a great day together :)

Nothing wrong with catching the shuttle bus being exciting it's new & having that link connecting campus is cool and useful imo.

I hope this week you have less issues with your health & although it can be very frustrating to manage your behaviour around it I'm glad you've had improvement from the past.

Glad to hear that the disability community at Deakin has been great so far!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 29, 2020, 06:51:39 pm
Hey,

I have never heard a fridge do that either - would definitely panic me a lot too. I can so clearly imagine the relief and bewilderment of realising it was the fridge. (I really like your writing style btw)

Sleepless-ness sucks :( I hope you're able to get more rest soon.

Nice to hear about the sunburn fading & the family visit!  Hope you have a great day together :)

Nothing wrong with catching the shuttle bus being exciting it's new & having that link connecting campus is cool and useful imo.

I hope this week you have less issues with your health & although it can be very frustrating to manage your behaviour around it I'm glad you've had improvement from the past.

Glad to hear that the disability community at Deakin has been great so far!

Hi Bri MT :)

Thanks for the reply!

Haha, I wish I knew how to upload a recording of it onto this forum, it's so strange. It was one of those moments when you're so worked up and panicked that you're ready to cry, but then you can't because you're uncontrollably laughing in just pure relief.
Thank you :)

Family visited today. It was great to see them. My niece isn't well but as she is non-verbal we don't know what's wrong. She's just not acting like herself which is the usual way we know she's unwell but the GP said she wasn't sick. So considering she wasn't feeling well, was stuck in the car for a few hours, and was in an unfamiliar place, she was incredibly well behaved (though I don't think my neighbours would agree haha), but she was a bit upset at one point and so they only stayed for a little while. It was so great to see them though.

Yes, having a free way to travel to classes is a godsend! Particularly because I can use it as a free trip to Geelong and walk to places close by if I need to.

Thank you :) I really appreciate your support.




Just another quick update:

The spider launched another attack this afternoon. I was on my bed, leaning against the wall. I had sprayed spider spray to make sure it didn't come out but I think it backfired and was the cause of it attacking :/ Anyway, I'm about 58% sure I killed it, but I don't know. So now I feel like I'm crawling again :) I spent about ten minutes wondering if spraying the room down entirely with spider spray, possibly setting off the fire alarm and owing the uni $1500 was worth killing that bloody spider. I decided against it, but have left the option open if it decides to make a return :) if it is alive, I feel like because I've tried to kill it, it will come for me when I'm least expecting it again and that makes me nervous, haha (sorry, whilst I am mostly joking here, the best jokes come from truth and this is closer to the truth than I'd like to admit! As I said, genuinely paranoid arachnophobia here - I'm the kind of person who is so terrified of them that I can't even look them up to see which ones I should be most afraid of because pictures will come up and I just can't look at them) :)



Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 07, 2020, 08:51:21 pm
Sorry the update is a day late. I was so tired yesterday :)

On Wednesday I went to the Waterfront campus - they had a few OT sessions that I had to attend. I had to wake up at about 5:30 to get ready and catch the shuttle bus in order there in time for the first session - which was not exactly fun, particularly as that's the time I normally get to sleep haha. I'm actually hoping to get into a better sleeping routine, which has always been difficult with the fibromyalgia, but all I can do is keep persisting :)

There was about a three hour gap between sessions, so I hung around, went to a study tips session and had a lovely orientation worker offer to show me where the rooms for my classes would be. I also ended up getting a library tour and sitting down at a cafe for a little while. It was actually really great to see how quickly time passed, as every Wednesday I have a two hour gap between classes (I did this intentionally so that I could go to the library and do a bit of study between classes).

The sessions about my course we're pretty basic, but generally informative. It looks like the Thursday class won't actually run from 9-5, but we'll be divided into groups and given a 2.5hr block alternating weeks, which was fantastic news!

The study tips session was great. I met a couple of people from study support, who I can contact if I want to improve on my assessment scores or if I'm struggling to understand something. Great to know that resource is available.

I also signed up for a program where another student a couple of years ahead of me and a group of my peers will meet weekly so that if there's anything we want to ask, we've got the chance to.

I got access to my unit sites, so I've spent the last couple of days combing through those and my unit guides to familiarise myself before I get started. I will need to make another timetable as I have a few online sessions to put in, but I'm not too concerned about that right now. In the unit site for one of my units, it said that I'd also get to learn a little Auslan, which I'm really excited about. I know a little bit from using a modified version with my niece, but I've always wanted to learn more and eventually be fluent (considering I'm going to be working with people with disabilities, I've always felt like this is something I should do to better communicate with my future patients/clients, I've just never been able to afford a course to learn), so going through a little bit will be fun.

I have to get a blood test to see how well the vaccinations I've had have worked and may possibly need to get a couple more if they haven't worked well. Little concerned about that as if you don't get them your placement opportunities reduce significantly, and there's certain vaccinations I can't get while I'm on methotrexate. Will need to contact my rheumatologist about this also, but I am due to have a phone appointment with her later next week for her to up my dosages, so I figure I'll just ask her then. No point asking until I know which, if any, vaccines I'll need. (I'm completely pro-vaccination by the way, it's just that with the medication I'm on, my GP told me some vaccines won't mix well)

I also have ordered a shirt for placements, which I'll pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday. I thankfully have some black pants, but I've ordered another pair (they won't come for another two weeks or so). I apparently have to wear this every Thursday, so I had to sort of rush to get things organised haha.

I did a police check and started my working with children's check, which I need to have done this Thursday.

Not much else to say really. I have an extremely busy week ahead of me. Not only study wise and class wise, but I have to go to Centrelink to sort out a number of issues, have to go to the dr's, call my rheumatologist, have a phone appointment with my rheumatologist, go to the post office to finish my working with children's check, pick up my shirt, try to figure out when my textbooks will get here, attend a compulsory residential meeting on Monday, etc.

I'm just looking forward to finally being able to start and begin making some progress with study :)

---------------------------

Oh, and because I've already mentioned it, the spider was not dead haha. It came for me again and now my bed is covered in spider spray and I've got a dead, curled up spider somewhere under my bed because I couldn't bare to pick it up with anything :)

This may become an ongoing saga throughout this journal of any terrifying spider incidences, particularly this year whilst I'm living alone and actually have to get rid of them myself haha.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 13, 2020, 07:35:58 pm
Week 1

Hey guys, I've just finished my first week of uni :)

Monday:
I got up early and spent about six hours in a study room within my building going through the basics of two of my units - the anatomy and the communication units. It was really great to make a lot of progress early in the week (by the end of the day I was about three quarters through both), particularly as I knew I was going to have a busy week.

Tuesday:
I finished off the modules, picked up my placement shirt and went to the doctors so they could give me a slip to get a blood test.
At 3, I had an online class for the anatomy unit. It went for two hours, and although it took a bit to figure out how to get into the class, once I did, I found the class really engaging. I did online lessons in year 12, so I had a bit of experience with how that sort of thing tends to run and it was fairly similar, which was great. Apparently I used to wrong browser to open it though, because in the last twenty minutes sound cut off for me and me only. I had to download Firefox for it to work but by then I'd missed the rest of it, so I ended up watching the last bit of the recording instead.

Wednesday:
I had my first in-person class at 10 on the waterfront campus, so I took the shuttle bus. I knew where my room was, so it was fairly easy to get to. The class was quite full. I don't think there were many empty seats, if any.

The class was for my occupational therapy unit, and it was great to get a better outline for this unit as not much had been uploaded onto the site at that time.

I had a seminar at 1, and there were a lot less people, thankfully! Going through more basics - I think all my units really wanted to ease us into their content, which I appreciated, but it was almost like too easy, because I know it'll only get harder from here on out haha.

I took the shuttle bus home and then did some more reading before I had an online class for the commutation class from 5-7.

Before that though, between the seminar and class, I had a couple of hours to kill. I actually ended up at Deakins study abroad office. I've never considered myself one for travel, I've never been out of Victoria after all, but it had been on my mind what it would be like to study for a couple of weeks in some place like Scotland or Ireland. They didn't have anything specifically like that, particularly for health degrees, but they had a couple for business related units. As I want to eventually open my own clinic, I thought maybe for my two electives next year, I could take a couple of business units overseas instead. Still not too sure. Money is obviously an issue, but I'd have a year and a half to prep, so it might be an option if I'm careful, and they said there were plenty of grants available to help.

Whilst I was there, the person I spoke with also mentioned a program called Hacker. I don't know much about it, but apparently it's over in Singapore and they give a bit of guidance to entrepreneurs wanting to start small businesses. It's overly priced, but again, there are possible grants that can cover up to more than half of the costs. I'm a little torn, as on one hand, I don't exactly consider myself an entrepreneur and by no means have any grand visionary ideas but on the other hand, I'd really love the opportunity to learn more about running a business so I can transfer that experience to when I open a clinic of my own.

Don't know what I'll do, or if I'll be able to do either (certainly won't be happening any time soon anyway), but its been great to consider it as I hadn't previously given much thought to going overseas, let alone going overseas in a constructive way.

Thursday:
Wednesday had left me feeling sore and very tired, but Thursday was crazy.

I had a practical at 8 (which I had only been notified of on Wednesday evening). Previously, they had said to block out times between 9 and 5, so I wasn't expecting an 8am prac.

So, after around two hours sleep, I woke up at 4:30. It took a bit longer than normal to do my normal stretches that I have to do to get out of bed when my arthritis is playing up, and by the time I'd hobbled around, gotten dressed, packed the last of my things and made it down to the bus stop, the sun still hadn't risen.

I caught the 6:45 bus, as the next bus would've only given me five minutes to get to class otherwise, and the room was in the far corner up the very top, so that wasn't going to happen. And I was not getting up that early only to be late :)

And, this is very pathetic, I saw my first sunrise on a bus. Lmao.

The practical went for 2.5 hours, and I yawned through most of it. The tutor made us do YMCA in a circle because we were too quiet. That was mortifying, but it worked because everyone starting responding to her questions from then on.

Then I went to the bathroom to chang (I had to wear my Deakin polo shirt to the practical) because it was 30 degrees and those tops are really uncomfortable.

I walked to the post office to finish off my working with children's check, then I got the blood test and then headed to centrelink and waited there for two hours. Called a taxi to take me back to campus because I physically wouldn't have made it there, my back and ankles were killing me, and I didn't fancy hanging around Centrelink until my flare up backed off.

Got back on the shuttle bus, walked ten minutes back to my room and promptly died. I'm kidding, I still had work to do as my third unit had finally released their week 1 content.

My Rheumatologist called and she put me up to 20mg. Need another blood test in a month and then she will decide if I need to go on anything else as well. The script wasn't going to get here in time for my next dose, so mum picked it up and express posted it to me, thankfully.

Spent 2.5 hours cooking because I was so tired that everything that I did took much longer than normal. Didn't get to sleep until 2am because no matter how tired I was, I couldn't sleep. I don't know if it was the pain, or I got overtired or both, but I didn't appreciate whatever it was. Sorry to complain, it wasn't a very good day for my haha.

Friday:
Had to wake up early for a seminar at 9am. Yay! After the lack of sleep I've had the last couple of days, I'm sorry if this makes no sense haha.

After that, I finished off a couple of small things that I still hadn't done. I tidied up my room and started three folders for each of my units, picked up my shopping (just small easy things to keep my body moving so it wouldn't seize up entirely).

I want to type up and organise my notes, but haven't had the time. I'm not in a rush, the fact that I've gotten through this week having done as much as I have, for me, is an absolute miracle.

I received my script and had to call about four different chemists to see if they had it in stock or if they would order it in for me. None of them had it and most of them refused to order it in or were confused as to what it was. The last person I called was lovely and said he could do it for me, but to be sure that I came to collect it. He understood that I wasn't able to get down there to give my script (as they normally like you to do before they order anything in) because I wasn't well. Unfortunately, this chemist wasn't in walking distance like the other chemists I called, so if I still feel like this come Monday, I'll probably have to waste money on another taxi to get it.

Oh, and I spent two hours on the phone to Centrelink this morning. The guy on the phone was great, and apparently everything the person I'd seen the previous day at Centrelink had touched on my file was coded wrong. The guy on the phone joked that the only things he didn't have to correct was my name and birthdate.

So, after sorting all that out, I've finally got rent assistance on the way, and I no longer have to report and see a job agency, which will make life easier. And also, the Centrelink guy I saw in person put on my file that I had received a 7500 scholarship - though I will go on to receive this in parts throughout the year, the way he put it on the system meant that Centrelink thought I had 7500 in my account right now, which was going to definitely affect my payments. So glad I called to double check. Some of the thing the guy on Thursday was saying just didn't add up and I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have any more issues with it.

The guy on the phone also asked if I wanted a student support scholarship and as I'm fairly low on money right now (I've been living on my measly savings as without rent assistance I've had around $25 a week each pay once I take out my rent) so that's also a major relief. It will come in well before my scholarship money - which I was trying to hold out for - so I'm less worried about getting through.

Overall, I made progress in the beginning of the week and struggled from Wednesday onwards. I know next week is going to be a lot easier even though I'll probably have more content to go through because I won't need to do as much running around. I do have to go the chemist and see the nurse for my blood test results, but I've got no prac on Thursday this week so I can spread the workload out more evenly and take some of the pressure off :)

I'm planning on taking it really easy on the weekend, but my body is flaring up so bad that I don't know if I'm even going to be able to relax. This is what I was afraid of before I started. I can only hope that now that I don't have to do as much running around, I will get to a place where I can cope.







On another note. I've almost ran out of toilet paper and I can't order any online as they no longer even have the icon for me to try to add it to my shopping order. Wish me luck.

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 22, 2020, 10:34:07 pm
Week 2

Okay, so everything has kind of gone to shit. Lmao

All classes were put online or on hold. I'm in a pretty reasonable place, given that two of my units are already online, but the third unit is a bit more difficult to put online as it has a practical. Given that I have an assessment in a few weeks where I have to interview someone and another where I have to physically manouvre someone from sitting to supine, I have no idea how we are supposed to practice for those, but I guess we'll see.

And now we're apparently going on lockdown. I had a bit of a feeling that we were heading that way and after speaking with my mum, we both decided it was best to go home before I got caught out. I haven't been able to order food online and can't get to the shops easily. And then there is the fact that I'm immunocompromised, so I kind of want to avoid everyone anyway. I had a few supplies and mum also had a few supplies, so it was a lot easier to put everything together, especially given that we weren't able to get anything before the shelves emptied, so we have very little food and pretty much no money and we both have health issues so going to multiple shops is fairly difficult. I'm sure there are many people in the same situation, so I wish you guys all the best!

Sorry for my rant :)

I'm glad I'm back home for the next week. I'll have to see how things go and if the lockdown lasts longer, but I'll head back to my room when things are looking a bit better and are less risky for me.

Last week was hectic. I'm late again with posting, sorry! The coursework for one of my units was a bit more heavy, and I still have about three hours left to read through the module and make notes. I probably won't do that until I'm in a good position with study next week as I don't want to fall behind with everything. I hate being behind, but I'll catch up soon I hope. Fingers crossed.

On the other hand, seeing my niece again has been amazing! I've missed her so much!

Things are pretty up in the air at the moment. I haven't heard from Deakin since I heard everything was going on lockdown and I am expecting an update in the next couple of days.

Even though it's frustrating that uni is being disrupted, I'm a. more concerned about the people who are getting seriously ill and dying due to this terrible virus and b. at least it's happening in my first year near the beginning, as opposed to year 12 or my final year of uni because I can't imagine how much more stressful that would be. Wish you guys luck and hope everything turns out okay :)

So sorry for these disjointed ramblings! My mind is all over the place right now haha :)

Alright, that's it from me for now. Stay healthy guys!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 29, 2020, 07:08:00 pm
Week 3

It's been a bit of a tough week.

Okay, so pretty much the day after my previous post, I got an email telling me I have to vacate my room by the following Friday. I had to get all my stuff out, sign some documents and hand over my key. Some people were allowed to remain but they had really strict requirements to be allowed to do that - for example, nursing and medical students still had some classes face to face and they were therefore allowed to stay.

I didn't mind having to vacate, it sucks because I wasn't there long and we didn't have much time to get all our stuff, but it really frustrated me that we had to vacate entirely as opposed to just leaving some of our stuff there and coming back once the dust settles. It took a lot to move everything in there and not only that, but I'm not guaranteed to get another room when everything starts back up, let alone that room, that building or even a studio apartment. I have to apply again and whilst I will be given priority as a precious resident, it just feels really uncomfortable that I might not get a place.

So, late Tuesday I went back to the uni and packed up the rest of my things to bring back. And I've spent the rest of the week unable to do work because I've had a major flare up due to that. So I am now scrambling to catch up - I have two assesments due next week and more the following week that I really should have definitely started last week, so that's been fun.

And on top of that, today I have discovered that because I don't yet have my textbooks and one of my units apparently heavily used the textbook and that what I thought was just further exploration of knowledge explained in the text (as mentioned above what pages to read) was really half of the content I need to know, so I need to go back over weeks 1-3 for that unit before my first assessment is due on Tuesday, plus all of week 4s content for that unit.

Sigh. Trying not to be negative, but I'm still not feeling great and it's been a struggle.

On a brighter note, I've worked out a great note taking framework that I started using yesterday and it makes the content connect in a much simpler and cohesive way, so I'm really excited about that! It's similar to the Cornel method or whatever it's called haha, but a little different. For my anatomy unit, we are given learning objectives under each subtopic, which has made it really easy to figure out what I need to know and what I don't. So I've put those into a table and then listed questions below of all relevant points, and as I've gone through the weekly modules I've just answered those questions, then summarised each subtopic into one sentence and then out those one sentences into another table that I can fit into one page for each week. Sorry, that was a bit of a mouthful! Haha. I've been writing long sentences all day - my longest for one subtopic was over 150 words lmao.

Alright, I'll leave this here. Got a lot still to do. Hope you guys are all healthy with everything that's happening.

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on May 16, 2020, 12:00:47 am
It's been awhile. My bad  :'(

I have just finished week 9. Whew. It's been a tough couple of weeks. I am still trying to get caught back up, between my health and the assessments that have rapidly come around I haven't yet been able to, which is disappointing, but I'm actually a bit proud that I've hung in there. The last few years of high school, whenever I got into this position and I couldn't cope with my health and the workload I always dropped a subject or two. My health is nowhere near as debilitating as it was prior to getting on medication, but it's still a struggle, so I'm really happy that I've managed to get this far. Though, I suppose it helps that I have a lot of experience with online work and given that everything has gone online, it has been reasonably easier to manage.

I've been considering swapping around two of my units. In trimester 2, I have two units on campus and one online. One of the on campus units, however, can be done online in trimester 3. I thought if I swap that into trimester 3 with one of my trimester 3 online units, I can get away with having all but one unit online for the rest of the year. It may be a pointless change if Deakin continues online into trimester 2, however I don't want to get caught out and be unable to travel two hours each way four days a week. And I'm hesitant to move back to the campus accommodation for eleven weeks, as moving everything took such a toll on my health. So I think it works out no matter how I look at it if I move most of my classes to online, even though I was really enjoying going to classes in person for the two weeks I was able to.

I think I might try to update here once a month from here on out, as opposed to once a week as it is just easier to manage at the moment. I may pop back in for a post or two between then if I get time, but otherwise, I think I'll stick to monthly.

So far, despite being rushed to complete weekly work, I've really enjoyed the content. It's been generally a lot more engaging that any high school subjects I did, but perhaps it's simply because I've chosen a course that really interests me. On one hand, I love exploring communication in people with disabilities and on the other anatomy and function of the human body is fascinating.

I don't regret choosing this pathway. I must admit, I thought about the fact I could have gotten into something else that was a bit shorter and that perhaps allied health wouldn't look as good as biomedicine when applying for medicine. In saying that, I've discovered the OT community is quite tight nit and supportive and I love that. I'm not the most competitive person and battling it out with hundreds of other med hopefuls in biomed where I could be directly compared to them and their performance in the same units - well, that sort of environment never appealed to me. It's just great to think that I made the right choice for me.

A few aspects of the course are a bit unlikeable - like how some of the weekly work is so basic that it stopped being so engaging, but then I realise I'm just itching to dive head first into all of the challenging stuff and the fact I'm so interested in learning more just reinforces the fact I made the right choice.

That being said, this week has probably been one of the tougher weeks of the year so far. You know those weeks that are so frustrating that all you can do is laugh? Yes, well, I'm already behind and struggling to catch up, had a major flare up early in the week and have felt off since trying to keep the pain levels down, woke up after two hours of sleep to my neighbours house on fire and thought I was hallucinating due to exhaustion because somehow despite the barring alarms no one else in my house woke up, had online site visits from 8:30-5 the following day, and then spent four hours today rushing to do an assessment that I thought was due at 12 tonight when it isn't due for another week. And now I'm coming onto atarnotes to take my mind off all of that, lmao.

Not long before I've finished this trimester and I don't know if it is just everything thats going on right now in the world, but time has gone by incredibly quickly. I've got two weeks left, then two weeks holiday, then I'm back on for another eleven weeks.

So, hope you guys are all well and keeping busy. I'll leave this here. Hope it makes sense because I can't really think straight :)

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 19, 2020, 04:59:56 pm

Long time, no post... Sorry guys. I sort of fell off the end of the Earth for a bit there  ;D

As I predicted in my first post on this thread, I burned out. Reading back this thread was an amazing motivator though. I've come far since making that first post. A lot has happened, good and bad.

As I'm from Melbourne, I was on Stage 4 lockdown for a while. It was a difficult period of time for many people, but it really offered me perspective. My body was telling me to slow down. Laws were forcing me to slow down. So for the first time I truly did slow down. Now, because of that, I am in the best position I have been since I can remember.

My health has gotten to a much better place. I ended up needing to get an add on to my medication, but it's working very well. I still have regular flare ups and it's still a struggle, but I'm typically feeling semi-human.

I've managed to sustain 3 units during each trimester. That's so significant to me. I graduated last year barely passing 1 year 12 unit, and I've managed a 75% uni workload. That sort of achievement was unfathomable to me last year. Now that my health is finally starting to settle, I look forward to eventually taking on a full workload. I'm enjoying studying again, which is thrilling. I don't think I can even express how that makes me feel.

Instead of merely wishing and hoping for a better future, I finally feel like I have the capacity to make that future for myself. All those things I imagined - getting into medicine, opening a clinic - I feel capable of that. It won't be easy by any means, but it's certainly achievable. It's probably weird to say but I'm proud of myself for the first time in my life.

I figure I'll stop rambling on and update you guys with where I'm at. Here are my scores:

Trimester 1:
HBS109: 73 Distinction
HDS101: 72 Distinction
HSO102: 77 Distinction

Trimester 2:
HBS110: 78 Distinction
HSE102: 82 High Distinction
HSO104: [I haven't completed placement yet due to covid and therefore am yet to receive the mark for this unit, though I am expecting similar to the above]

So, as you guys can see, my scores have been improving! I'm hoping to move to most, if not all HD's this trimester with the following units:
HSE208 Integrated Human Physiology
HBS107 Understanding Health
HPS202 Child and Adolescent Development

Here are the links to those units if anyone is interested:
https://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students-courses/unit-search.php?year=2020&entunit=hse208&entkeyword=
https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2021&hidYear=2020&hidType=&txtUnit=hbs107&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=
https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2021&hidYear=2020&hidType=&txtUnit=hps202&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=

I'm on inter-trimester break right now, just past Week 6, so I'll probably share my assessment marks too when I figure out how to format them properly haha.

As I was already completing HSE208 and HBS107 in Trimester 3, I decided to take one of my electives for next year too. I figured I may as well if I'm studying over this trimester. It took a bit of deliberation, but I finally decided on HPS202 Child and Adolescent Development.

So yeah, whilst these aren't the scores I need to medicine, only my HPS202 score will be included in my 3 year GPA. It was great to have the first few units to get used to uni. Deakin notes on their medicine course site that they had an average GPA of 6.7. So, I'm still a fair way off from that haha

That being said, I also acknowledge that I've probably had it a bit easier doing uni online because I had years of experience with online education before that. Also, first year units are likely a lot easier than second, third and fourth. With my health improving, I'm hoping I can maintain and improve these scores next year regardless.

Next year, oh boy... Everything is still fairly up in the air. I've booked in for accommodation again, but no one is certain if we're going back yet. Genuinely considering hiring a moving company so I don't ruin my health trying to move in and out again, if it goes ahead.  It's looking like it might be semi-on-campus and semi-online. If that's the case, I'll likely have to go in 1-2 times a week and figure living there will be easier.

I'm going to get back into the habit of updating semi-regularly here. I feel like this helps keep my accountable, something I'm striving to maintain going forward.

I hope everyone else is going along okay. So many of us have faced a truly grueling and trial filled year and I hope you've managed to come out the other side okay.

Talk to you guys next time, I guess. Sorry for disappearing on you all. Let me know how you are :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Bri MT on December 19, 2020, 05:25:02 pm
Hey!

It's lovely to see you back again :)

Congratulations on everything you've achieved and it's fantastic to hear that you're in a great position atm.

I've found this year pretty challenging, online learning not so much (so much better than when I did distance ed in highschool!) but 2020 has been a rough ride for me. That being said I'm in an alright place atm and I'm definitely optimistic for next year. I'm way overdue for a uni journal update so I'll try to do that early next year if not earlier. 

Best of luck with accommodation.

Love the font btw.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on December 19, 2020, 06:00:27 pm
So nice to see you again! Huge congrats on your results - they're awesome without even taking into account it's your first year of uni and how tricky this year has been! I hope you're really proud of yourself ;D I'm so glad lockdown gave you a chance to slow down and helped your health improve a bit! I think it really showed us all how we make ourselves so busy and often forget to give ourselves a bit of "me time".

Re: moving - I've had removalists for my last 2 moves because me and my housemate both have health issues, and it's been SO worth the money. You get everything done quicker, you're not absolutely exhausted, they're insured so if anything gets broken it's all g, and you (and anyone helping you) don't risk injuring yourself. If you pack everything up before they come it really takes them no time at all to move, then you actually have energy to set up your new place! Hope this insight helps a bit :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 19, 2020, 06:57:50 pm
Hey!

It's lovely to see you back again :)

Congratulations on everything you've achieved and it's fantastic to hear that you're in a great position atm.

I've found this year pretty challenging, online learning not so much (so much better than when I did distance ed in highschool!) but 2020 has been a rough ride for me. That being said I'm in an alright place atm and I'm definitely optimistic for next year. I'm way overdue for a uni journal update so I'll try to do that early next year if not earlier. 

Best of luck with accommodation.

Love the font btw.


Hi Bri MT :)

Thank you so much!

Glad you're in a better place now after such a tough year. I do agree that online learning in uni was on an entirely different level from distance ed online study - I don't know if it's just different content, better access to resources or what, but uni online is far more preferable.  Loving the optimism  ;D

Looking forward to your update!

And thank you haha - thought the font was a nice change. I've become obsessed with using Courier in the last few months. The people marking my assessments must hate me lol


So nice to see you again! Huge congrats on your results - they're awesome without even taking into account it's your first year of uni and how tricky this year has been! I hope you're really proud of yourself ;D I'm so glad lockdown gave you a chance to slow down and helped your health improve a bit! I think it really showed us all how we make ourselves so busy and often forget to give ourselves a bit of "me time".

Re: moving - I've had removalists for my last 2 moves because me and my housemate both have health issues, and it's been SO worth the money. You get everything done quicker, you're not absolutely exhausted, they're insured so if anything gets broken it's all g, and you (and anyone helping you) don't risk injuring yourself. If you pack everything up before they come it really takes them no time at all to move, then you actually have energy to set up your new place! Hope this insight helps a bit :)


Hi K888, thanks for the reply and for your kind words! I think a lot of us have needed that "me time" during lockdown!

That's great to hear that you have used removalists before and it's worked. It makes me feel more confident that it's the right way to go. I found a company that has mini trucks to move uni students - because we obviously don't need to shift large amounts of furniture - which is great because that makes it a lot cheaper! Hopefully I'll have a bit of notice before moving (I don't want to book them in advance and then have to cancel or still pay the fee if we don't go back on campus 2021, so I'm in a bit of a pickle of what to do there).

As I'm booked in for accommodation in Geelong this time, I'm more concerned about trying to find a park to even unload everything. I feel as though removalists would be able to park in loading zones, whereas I would not, which would make it so much easier. It was difficult enough lugging it all the short distance at Waurn Ponds, let alone trying to find a park in Geelong and then cart everything back and forth! Thank you so much for that little tidbit.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on December 19, 2020, 07:01:43 pm

Hi K888, thanks for the reply and for your kind words! I think a lot of us have needed that "me time" during lockdown!

That's great to hear that you have used removalists before and it's worked. It makes me feel more confident that it's the right way to go. I found a company that has mini trucks to move uni students - because we obviously don't need to shift large amounts of furniture - which is great because that makes it a lot cheaper! Hopefully I'll have a bit of notice before moving (I don't want to book them in advance and then have to cancel or still pay the fee if we don't go back on campus 2021, so I'm in a bit of a pickle of what to do there).

As I'm booked in for accommodation in Geelong this time, I'm more concerned about trying to find a park to even unload everything. I feel as though removalists would be able to park in loading zones, whereas I would not, which would make it so much easier. It was difficult enough lugging it all the short distance at Waurn Ponds, let alone trying to find a park in Geelong and then cart everything back and forth! Thank you so much for that little tidbit.

A lot of removalists also have different truck sizes depending on how much stuff you need to move, too. We've been able to choose truck size both times. Re: booking, we booked like a week or two in advance and got the impression that's very rare - it seemed like they regularly get booked only days in advance at most.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: The Cat In The Hat on December 19, 2020, 08:50:22 pm
-snip-
Now the ordinary font looks... commonplace. And by the way, your journal looks really interesting!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 19, 2020, 09:12:40 pm
A lot of removalists also have different truck sizes depending on how much stuff you need to move, too. We've been able to choose truck size both times. Re: booking, we booked like a week or two in advance and got the impression that's very rare - it seemed like they regularly get booked only days in advance at most.

Good to know! I might have to look around and get a few quotes. Glad that if I have to book last minute there are removalists that will do it! That makes me feel a lot better about it [but I must admit I will still feel better if I get to book in advance haha]

Now the ordinary font looks... commonplace. And by the way, your journal looks really interesting!

Thanks for your reply The Cat In The Hat!
haha! Sorry  ;D This font helps me think for some reason.
Thank you!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on December 27, 2020, 04:33:24 pm

Hello again  :)

In my last update I think I mentioned keeping track of my individual assessment results for this trimester to hold myself accountable for them, so I'll note them down below.

HPS202 Child & Adolescent Development:
AT1 - Annotated Bibliography [30%]: unknown
AT2 - Policy Brief [50%]: unknown
AT3 - Quiz 1 [4%]: 15.00/15.00=100%
AT3 - Quiz 2 [4%]: 06.00/15.00=40%
AT3 - Quiz 3 [4%]: unknown
AT3 - Quiz 4 [4%]: unknown
AT3 - Quiz 5 [4%]: unknown
Current Average: 70

HSE208 Integrated Human Physiology:
AT1 - Practical 1 [5%]: 19.50/20.00=97.5%
AT1 - Practical 2 [10%]: unknown
AT1 - Practical 3 [10%]: unknown
AT1 - Practical 4 [10%]: unknown
AT1 - Practical 5 [15%]: unknown
AT2 - Quiz 1 [4%]: 04.00/04.00=100%
AT2 - Quiz 2 [6%]: unknown
AT3 - Examination [40%]: unknown
Current Average: 98.66

HBS107 Understanding Health:
AT1 - Career Report [25%]: 25.00/25.00=100%
AT2 - Health Plan Report [40%]: unknown
AT3 - Group Presentation [35%]: unknown
Current Average: 100

So my HPS202 AT3 Quiz 2 score sucked lol. I left it to last minute, didn't do any study for it, and did it through a moderate flare up, so I'm surprised I even got that much. It's only worth 4%, so I'm trying not to agonize over it. That will do me more harm than good. It's only 4%, but at the same time, that 4% could be the difference between a D and HD. Still, I'm going to try and use it as motivation to help me pull my HPS202 overall score up to over 80.

During the time I completed HPS202 AT3 Quiz 2, I also completed HPS202 AT1 and HSE208 AT1 Practical 2, so I don't have high hopes for those assessments either. My flare up was likely caused by stress (my niece, brother [twice], sister and mother all went to hospital for different reasons within the span of 1 week so I expect that's probably why lol) so I'm hoping that it's a one off as my health has been a lot better in control as I mentioned last post.

I'm hoping that dedicating enough effort to the HPS202 AT2 policy brief, and trying not to lose too many marks on the HPS202 quizzes and HSE208 quizzes and practicals from here on out will enable me to remain above an average score of 80 for all of my units and make up for the poor scores I am expecting.

Still, I must say I'm pretty thrilled with my results so far (besides the obvious ;D). The HBS107 AT1 career report was certainly a pleasant surprise.

I'm a bit behind, so the next two weeks I'm going to try and catch up. Well, not behind really, just behind my own schedule. I need to be two weeks ahead for when I go on placement sometime mid-jan and I am not quite there yet.

I plan to spend the next week or week and a half going through all the content for all of my units for the rest of the trimester. Then the following week when classes start back up, I only have to worry about assessments. I only have the HPS202 policy brief and the HBS107 health plan report and group presentation to do, so I'll get those done in the next 1-2 weeks after that. Then I'll do quizzes and practicals when I can, refine my notes for the HSE208 exam and do my placement and the assessments attached to that.

So, I've got a busy few weeks ahead of me  ;D Wish me luck lol  :'(

Hope you guys are having a good holidays. I might not post again until after the new year, so talk to you all then!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 05, 2021, 08:21:16 pm

And... the flare ups strike again... Guess I spoke to soon haha

I've had another bout of flare ups unfortunately. I still managed to make a great start on notes, but not nearly what I was aiming for. I'm still very happy with what I got done considering.

It was my 21st on Sunday and spending the day relaxing and taking it easy was certainly a relief! Best birthday I could've asked for. I'm so boring haha  ;D

Classes went back Monday. Nothing too new there. I think everyone is feeling the drag of the holidays.

I don't really have much more to update right now.

Oh, I did get another assessment result:

HSE208 Integrated Human Physiology:
AT1 - Practical 2 [10%]: 23.00/28.00=08.21/10.00=82.14%
This brings my current average for this unit down to 89.95.

Not as bad as I was expecting, but I would certainly like to do better. Considering I was concerned about this result, I'm not as disappointed as I thought I would be though! Still a HD... just haha - and my overall unit result hasn't dropped below a HD either, although I don't have much further to drop before I do.

I guess that's it. I'm just trying to keep positive and push forward.

I'll talk to you guys next time  :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 14, 2021, 05:21:24 pm

Just a brief update today.

My placement is back on! I start this Monday and it goes for two weeks. I'm nervous and excited. Really interested to see how a telehealth placement works. But the agency is all about rural healthcare for children, so it's right up my alley. A bit nervous in regards to how I'm going to cope health wise, but it is what it is.

I don't know if I'm going to have much time to update for the next two weeks, but I'll see how I go.

I did get another result back:

HPS202 Child & Adolescent Development:
AT1 Annotated Bibliography [30%]: 71/100=21.30/30.00=71%
This brought my average for this unit to 70.79

So, I scraped through with a distinction. I'm both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed because I really wanted to do much better, and relieved because I thought I had done much worse. I knew where I had gone wrong when writing it, but I wasn't well at the time and didn't have time to fix it, so that's really frustrating.

I'm more disappointed that I wasn't able to improve my unit average for HPS202 by much. +0.79 isn't much lol, but it didn't go down, so that's something! It's just going to take a lot more to bring it up to a HD average.  As long as I don't drop below a D (which I am dangerously close to doing), I think I will be okay with it.

HPS202 is the first unit that will count towards my 3yr GPA for med, so I was really wanting to get HD to take a bit of the pressure off going forward. In the long run, I can make up for it - but it would've been great to not have to.  Either way, it'll work out (fingers crossed  ;D).

As I said, I might not be able to post for a little bit, but I'll talk to you guys next time!


[oops! guess this wasn't too brief  ;D]
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on January 31, 2021, 02:28:20 pm


Placement:

So... I survived my first placement! Just, lol

I think I was very lucky with this placement. As it was with a smaller business, I got to have videoconferences with most of the staff. They were all amazing and lovely. I attended a number of client meetings, which was awesome. I also completed a number of tasks centered around creating resources, including a number of joint brainstorming sessions. It was an unbelievable experience. It's actually making me seriously consider working in telehealth in the future. I really enjoyed it and felt as though that suited my lifestyle.

My supervisor in particular was amazing. She was really interested in helping me develop my skills further. I didn't really expect that. I mean, I know they are meant to help us do that, but I feel like she went out of her way a lot of the time, which I appreciated.

I'm a little concerned that because this placement experience was so great, that I might be a little disappointed in future placements, but fingers crossed they are also awesome too.

That being said, I certainly felt the drain of it on my health. I did everything I could to keep up with it, but I struggled a lot. There were times that I didn't think I'd even make it through it. It sounds silly - it wasn't as though I had to factor in travel or even just walking around like I would have if my placement hadn't been through telehealth. It's certainly reiterated for me that I'm just not at the stage with my health to be doing anything full time right now. I think it's going to take a bit to recover from this placement, but I'll get there.

In saying that though, I also surprised myself with how well I coped with it considering. I mean, I got through it. A full-time two week placement! A year and a half ago that would have been simply impossible for me. Hopefully in another years time, full time uni is something that will be possible. That would be amazing, a complete game changer for me.

Anyway, because one of my placement days fell on a public holiday, I get to do another day in a couple of weeks. So that's exciting.


Moving:

So, it is looking as though I will be moving back to campus in a couple of weeks. I have been humming and har-ing for a little bit now of whether it's worth it. At the end of the day, I don't really see that I have much choice.

From what I can tell, all classes are remaining online. Most seminars are also remaining online. And some practicals will be on campus. I do have practicals for one unit, so that is something I'll need to go in for. Just based off that, I'd just stay living where I am - it's cheaper and travelling to deakin a couple of times should be alright. Deakin have also said that for people who don't have classes, you can opt out without issue.

However, there is no guarantee for trimester 2 if I choose not to take accommodation in trimester 1. If I opt out, and trimester 2 is back on campus, I'll have to defer because I won't be able to travel that much - and I definitely want to avoid that.

It's a bit of a tricky one. I'll probably just end up on campus to be honest.


Conclusion:

Still lots of assessments to do. Exam is coming up soon. Need to pack to move. busy, busy haha. Until next time...


Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on February 23, 2021, 03:49:54 pm

Hello again! It's been a little while. A lots been happening.

I did mean to update earlier but things have been super busy. I tried about a week and a half ago to update, but after I'd written everything out, it had autologged out and I lost everything lol

Regardless, today is the first day since then that I've had a moment of spare time. I've decided to better incorporate headings into these to give it some tiny form of structure haha.

WARNING: LONG UPDATE AHEAD  :-[

T3 2020 is over
I finished up with T3! Finally, haha  ;D

I feel as though during T3 I finally found my bearings with uni - the pace, the workload, the intensity, what's expected of me in assessments. I'm actually really excited to head into my second year with these newfound skills in place. I'm also excited to build upon these more. Deakin has amazing resources and I'm definitely going to take the time to utilise these far more. I feel as though for me that is how I'm going to move from a D to HD average.

Overall, I felt as though I actually got to enjoy my units more this trimester than I had in T1 and T2. Even though I was stressed about my GPA unit (HPS202) results at times, at the end of the day this year was vital to building skills that will enable me to reach the better scores in the next few years.

Moving
I moved back into Deakin accommodation yesterday! I also feel as though having a quiet space to study is going to really help shift my scores up a level.

I love my new space. It's bigger than the last studio aparment and has more light, which is awesome. This is going to sound weird, but it's also oriented differently from the last one (same set up, just flipped so everything is on opposite side) and for some reason it feels better because of that?  ??? ;D

I'm in Geelong now instead of Waurn Ponds and it's so strange to hear traffic right outside lol. I've never lived close to a city, let alone in one. I think it will take some time to adjust to, but I don't mind it too much.

I've also never lived off the first floor haha, so that's a new experience for me too! I am so boring lmao

I'm still getting settled in. I found the moving in process a lot easier this time round.

1 - it was less busy as it was only returning students moving back in and we had set check in times due to covid restrictions

2 - I haven't brought everything with me in one trip (mum will be dropping off the rest of my stuff over the next few weeks)

I didn't end up getting movers. I got a few quotes and due to the distance they would need to travel it came to over a grand. I mean, I expected it to be high, but I didn't think I could justify $1000+.

Instead, I filled up my two suitcases and just brought those with me. I emptied them and my mum will go back and pack them with more stuff that she can then drop off for me to wheel in. The suitcases work because there's minimal strain on my back which equals less back pain thankfully. I had packed everything into boxes ready for the movers before I got the quotes, so it's fairly easy for my mum to empty the boxes into the suitcases. (Thanks mum lol)


T3 Unit Results
Results are due to be released in a little while. I've gotten back all my results other than my exam result, so I'll list these down below.

HPS202 Child & Adolescent Development

AT1 Annotated Bibliography (30%):
Spoiler
Score:71.00/100.00
Percentage:71.00%
Weighting21.30/30.00

AT2 Policy Brief (50%):
Spoiler
Score:85.00/100.00
Percentage:85.00%
Weighting: 42.50/50.00

AT3 Quiz 1 (4%):
Spoiler
Score: 15.00/15.00
Percentage: 100.00%
Weighting: 04.00/04.00

AT3 Quiz 2 (4%):
Spoiler
Score: 06.00/15.00
Percentage: 40.00%
Weighting: 01.60/04.00

AT3 Quiz 3 (4%):
Spoiler
Score: 09.00/15.00
Percentage: 60.00%
Weighting: 02.40/04.00

AT3 Quiz 4(4%):
Spoiler
Score: 10.00/15.00
Percentage: 66.67%
Weighting: 02.67/04.00

AT3 Quiz 5 (4%):
Spoiler
Score: 09.00/15.00
Percentage: 60.00%
Weighting: 02.40/04.00

HPS202 Estimated Unit Average:
Spoiler
76.87


HSE208 Integrated Human Physiology

AT1 Practical 1 (5%)
Spoiler
Score: 19.50/20.00
Percentage:97.50%
Weighting: 04.88/05.00

AT1 Practical 2 (10%)
Spoiler
Score: 23.00/28.00
Percentage: 82.14%
Weighting: 08.21/10.00

AT1 Practical 3 (10%)
Spoiler
Score: 23.00/30.00
Percentage: 76.67%
Weighting: 07.67/10.00

AT1 Practical 4 (10%)
Spoiler
Score: 48.00/60.00
Percentage: 80.00%
Weighting: 08.00/10.00

AT1 Practical 5 (15%)
Spoiler
Score: 77.00/100.00
Percentage: 77.00%
Weighting: 11.55/15.00

AT2 Quiz 1 (4%)
Spoiler
Score: 04.00/04.00
Percentage: 100.00%
Weighting: 04.00/04.00

AT2 Quiz 2 (6%)
Spoiler
Score: 03.00/06.00
Percentage: 50.00%
Weighting: 03.00/06.00

AT3 Exam (40%)
Spoiler
Score: Unknown
Percentage: Unknown
Weighting: Unknown

HSE208 Unit Average:
Spoiler
78.85 (not including exam result)


HBS107 Understanding Health

AT1 Career Report (25%):
Spoiler
Score: 25.00/25.00
Percentage: 100.00%
Weighting: 25.00/25.00

AT2 Health Plan Report (40%):
Spoiler
Score: 74.00/100.00
Percentage: 74.00%
Weighting: 29.60/40.00

AT3 Group Presentation (35%):
Spoiler
Score: 30.50/35.00
Percentage: 87.14%
Weighting: 30.50/35.00

HBS107 Estimated Unit Average:
Spoiler
85.10


Result Reflection:
Overall, I'm really pleased with my results for this trimester. I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but to be honest, even when I got 100% on the Career Report for HBS107, I still wasn't completely happy with what I submitted. So I'm just trying to make myself acknowledge that given everything, I have done pretty well.

Some assessment I have to admit, I have no clue how I ended up with that mark. Of note, HPS202 AT2 - I was expected to barely get a pass and I ended up with a HD?  ??? I completed it at 4am and didn't proofread it whatsoever. It was due the following day and I wouldn't have a chance to fix what I knew needed to be fixed as I had placement the following day. I was genuinely really bummed out for a few days about not getting to put my all into the assessment. Don't know how on earth that ended up with a HD but hey, I'm not complaining!  ;D

HPS202 is my first unit to count towards my GPA for med, so I really needed a minimum of a D average to be on track (though a HD would be better). My quizzes were pretty crappy (they tested us on stuff they hadn't actually provided in the material, so it was hard to know what to learn to prepare for it) and I knew I needed a good AT2 score to get an overall score of D.

Fingers crossed my estimates are correct and I'll end up with a D for HPS202.


T1 2021 Units
My units for T1 this year are as follows:

HSO202 Impact of Health Conditions on Occupational Performance

HSO205 Occupations in Childhood Development

HSO207 Neurological Structure, Function & Plasticity

I will update you guys more on this next week when units open for O week and I get my timetable back.


END NOTE
The more I learn about my course, the more glad I am that I am using atarnotes to reflect upon my experiences. In OT, reflection is a incredibly useful tool and skill. This is helping me build upon that, so I'm really pleased I bit the bullet and made this (even though I was really unsure about doing so).

So thanks guys for reading my long winded babbling nonsense.

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Coolmate on February 23, 2021, 08:38:15 pm
- snip -

Hey KatherineGale! :)

Congratulations on these marks and this year's units look very interesting, like HSO207

Looking forward to the next update :)
Coolmate 8)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 02, 2021, 11:55:27 am
Hey KatherineGale! :)

Congratulations on these marks and this year's units look very interesting, like HSO207

Looking forward to the next update :)
Coolmate 8)

Thanks for the reply, Coolmate!

Unit sites opened yesterday, so I'm currently combing through those. I'll update soon with some more information about the units  :) I'm just trying to collate all my unit information into a few tables that are easy reference points.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 03, 2021, 10:55:48 pm

Update time!

I'm hoping to keep this update fairly short, but we'll see lol (you guys know how I ramble endlessly).

I guess I'll just give a break down of my units this trimester. They are all OT specific units, so it will be really interesting to narrow my scope of study and bring everything back to OT, which I assume these units will begin to work us through.


HSO202 Impact of Health Conditions on Occupational Performance

Unit Link:
https://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students-courses/unit-search.php?year=2021&entunit=hso202&entkeyword=

Unit Summary:
Spoiler
From my understanding, we are going to learn about a number of conditions and then use case studies to understand how these conditions can impact a persons ability to complete meaningful occupations. We have touched on the OT science topic of occupational performance in the past, so it's going to be great to apply what we've learned to actual scenarios. I believe this unit gives us a better foundation for clinical reasoning - basically how we justify every single thing we do as OT's
Unit Timetable:
Spoiler
Class: Monday @11:00am-01:00pm (online, except for W3, 5, & 10 when it is on campus)
Unit Assessments:
Spoiler
AT1 Case Study [35%]
AT2 Exam [35%]
AT3 Written Case Report Test [35%]
AT4 SPEF-R2
*AT3 & AT4 are in relation to a 1 week simulated placement at the end of the trimester.
My thoughts:
Spoiler
From what I've seen, I'm going to really enjoy this unit. I have experimented with note taking all last year, but for this unit, I'm going to do things a bit differently. I plan on creating powerpoint presentations with all the main points that I've interpreted as though I need to give a presentation on the topics. It will take more time, but it will really push me to understand the content, rather than just repeating what is written. I don't know if I will be able to keep it up throughout the trimester, but I'm certainly going to try.

I also feel as though it will be a great resource in the future - I'd like to create seperate powerpoint presentations on each of the conditions we cover. I want to really enjoy learning this year, as opposed to stressing because I haven't done notes that never helped me in the first place.


HSO205 Occupations in Childhood Development

Unit Link:
https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2021&hidYear=2021&hidType=&txtUnit=hso205&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=

Unit Summary:
Spoiler
This unit is also pretty self-explanatory. We will be looking at how occupations develop as the children do. There is still fairly limited information about this unit right now, but it will lend on the other HSO202 regarding occupational performance. To my understanding, the PEOP model will also be very important throughout this unit, as we will be looking at the person (child), their environment, and their occupations.
Unit Timetable:
Spoiler
Class: Tuesday @10:00am-11:30am (online)
Seminar: Wednesday @11:00am-12:30pm (on-campus)
Unit Assessments:
Spoiler
AT1 Audio-Visual Presentation [25%]
AT2 Observational Based Case Study Report [35%]
AT3 Exam [40%]
My thoughts:
Spoiler
Again, I feel as though we're finally getting to apply some of the basic information we learned last year. I'm hoping that as I completed HPS202, I can better focus on the OT side of things rather than having to learn child development and then apply it.


HSO207 Neurological Structure, Function & Plasticity

Unit Link:
https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2021&hidYear=2021&hidType=&txtUnit=hso207&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=

Unit Summary:
Spoiler
Whilst HSO202 focusses on common conditions, and HSO205 focusses on childhood development, HSO207 focusses on the nervous system and how occupations can be disrupted when the nervous system is not optimally functioning. Occupational performance is, once again, an important topic in this unit, however we'll also be looking at the effects on behaviour (this should be really interesting).  In this unit, case studies will again be utilised and from what I've seen, the goal is to further develop our OT perspective (such as how we would approach these conditions and their impact on occupations from a clinical perspective).
Unit Timetable:
Spoiler
Seminar: Wednesday @01:30pm-03:30pm (online, except for W3, 5 & 8 when it is on campus)
Unit Assessments:
Spoiler
AT1 Team Presentation [20%]
AT2 Written Case Report [30%]
AT3a Quizzes [1% x10]
AT3b Exam [40%]
My thoughts:
Spoiler
ooh, this is going to be a good unit. We've had a number of human physiology and anatomy units already, but now we get to focus in on nervous system conditions and link it with OT. Whilst I do always enjoy the OT aspects, the physiology and conditions are always something I particularly enjoy.


Overall Thoughts on Units:

I think I'm a bit spoiled this trimester. My units all look great. I'm so keen to get stuck into them.

I'm a bit disappointed that they all have exams, because with my health those are a type of assessment that I struggle with - sitting for a long period of time, neck bent forward, writing/typing for a long period of time, etc. (it just always ends up in a flare up). So, I never do particularly well in exams compared to my other results. Fingers crossed they are online again so I can have a heat pack during it. I'll just have to make sure my other marks are all up to par so I don't have to rely on my exam results.

Beyond that though, the assessments look fairly interesting. There seems to be a large focus on Case Studies, which I think is great. Case studies are incredibly easy to study with - throughout the trimester, I can write/find case studies and practice. It will be engaging and enjoyable, so studying that way will be better than just reading and having to remember something.

***

On another note, I get my Trimester 3 results tomorrow. I'm interested to see how close my estimates were. I do expect the HSE208 to drop (I don't think I did very well on the exam), but I'm mainly keeping my fingers crossed for HPS202.

I'll probably update sometime tomorrow with my results. Talk to you then!

(and, as predicted, this was not a short update lmao)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 04, 2021, 12:56:13 pm

I think this might be my 100th post  ;D yay!

Sorry for the frequent posts. Is this the third this week? :-[

So, I got my unit results for HSE208, HBS107 and HPS202. I'm pretty happy how close I got with my estimates (I can keep in mind for future that Deakin likely rounds the averages up or down).

As predicted, I really screwed up my HSE208 exam. It's disappointing, but it's given me motivation to develop better exam techniques. I'm even considering speaking with a Deakin advisor to talk more about how I can apply myself in exam conditions.

There seems to be a huge disconnect with how I perform in assessments and how I perform in exams, and I'm not sure exactly what that is. I don't get particularly stressed because its an "exam" and I understand the content.

I really wish I could see which questions I did well in and which I did not. I have a feeling that I do well in the first half of the exam, and then as I'm sitting and concentrating for longer, I begin to develop a flare up and then start to get things wrong. That's my current theory anyway.

I'm not quite sure how to solve this yet, particularly as I already have supports in place with Deakin for being able to take in a hot water bottle for my back and being able to stand up and stretch.

It's also difficult to practice for exams, because practice exams have the same impact on my back. I'm thinking that I could maybe spend time over this trimester developing a plan of attack/solid routine for in the exam. I want to figure out how often I need to stand up and move around in a, say, two hour period, that will reduce my chances of a flare up, and what other supports are the most helpful.

Anyway, onto my results!


HBS107 Understanding Health
Spoiler
Result: 85 High Distinction (pretty thrilled with this to be honest)

HSE208 Integrated Human Physiology
Spoiler
Result: 68 Credit (ouch, my first C)

HPS202 Child & Adolescent Development
Spoiler
Result: 77 Distinction (I'm pretty happy with this. Wish it were a HD, but surprised I did well enough to get a D)


I'll just summarise my 2020 units so that I can keep better track of them. I also finally got my HSO104 results from T2, so those are below as well.
*HPS202 is technically a 2021 unit


2020 Y1
Trimester 1:
HBS109
Spoiler
73D [1CP]
HDS101
Spoiler
72D [1CP]
HSO102
Spoiler
77D [1CP]
Trimester 2:
HSE102
Spoiler
82HD [1CP]
HBS110
Spoiler
78D [1CP]
HSO104
Spoiler
74D [1CP]
Trimester 3:
HSE208
Spoiler
68C [1CP]
HBS107
Spoiler
85HD [1CP]

2020 GPA:
Spoiler
6.1/7
2020 WAM:
Spoiler
76.125

2021 Y2
HPS202
Spoiler
77D [1CP]

2021 GPA (so far)
Spoiler
6/7
2021 WAM:
Spoiler
77

Key:
Spoiler
C=Credit
D=Distinction
HD=High Distinction
Y=Year
CP=Credit Point


According to Deakin's website, their medicine degree intake had an average GPA of 6.71  :o so I've still got a long way to go, but I'm much closer than I thought I would be for my first year, so that's really exciting.

Okay, time to get back to work. The extra 0.71 seems like a small gap, but it's going to take a lot of effort to make that jump (particularly as units will only become more difficult from here on out). Let's go  :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on March 05, 2021, 09:44:58 am
Congrats on the outstanding results! First year of uni is the hardest to adjust to and it can be hard adjusting from the results you got in HS to the results you now get in uni. I hope you're really proud of yourself, especially for doing your first year during a pandemic!
IMO I found I was more proud of my results in uni and felt like I had worked much harder for them, even though they were definitely lower than the grades I was getting in HS!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 05, 2021, 12:17:15 pm
Congrats on the outstanding results! First year of uni is the hardest to adjust to and it can be hard adjusting from the results you got in HS to the results you now get in uni. I hope you're really proud of yourself, especially for doing your first year during a pandemic!
IMO I found I was more proud of my results in uni and felt like I had worked much harder for them, even though they were definitely lower than the grades I was getting in HS!

Thanks K888!

It was certainly an adjustment from HS to uni! I agree; each point for assessments feels like it is worth more time and effort than marks from high school, so whilst it sucks to get lower scores it also feels so much more earned when you do well. Thank you for your kind words; I'm trying to get out of the perfectionist mindset and acknowledge when I've done well, so yes I am pretty proud of myself (ah it feels uncomfortable typing that  ;D)

That being said, I'm enjoying the content of uni units far more than I enjoyed HS units. I didn't not like HS units, I just find uni so much more interesting because it has been (for the most part) topics I actually want to learn more about. My scores were definitely much lower and it was difficult not to take it to heart. But I have really focussed on trying to build it up - I'm getting there! In general (not mentioning HSE208 lol), my scores have increased. Slowly, but surely!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 12, 2021, 10:48:53 pm

Week 1 is coming to a close...*deep breath* *long exhale*

I'm looking at giving weekly updates at the end of each week reflecting back on the week that was. I'm hoping for Friday's to be update day, but we'll see if I can manage some consistency haha

I'd like to give these weekly updates a bit more structure than my typical update format. I'll divide everything up by unit/day(I tried to do it day by day, but I'd written bloody essay lol) and then babble at the bottom. If you guys haven't yet realised, I don't particularly filter these lol it's literally just my hands scribing my thought process  ;D

*Warning* I have not proofread this and I am very tired


HSO202 Impact of Health Conditions on Occupational Performance
Seminar
Spoiler
This was my first seminar of the year. It was online and went for 2 hours.

As with most Week 1 classes/seminars, we went through a lot of introductory material - introductions, expectations, overview of unit, assessments, learning outcomes, etc.

Surprisingly, we also got stuck into a fair bit of actual content, which was great. We mainly went over topics covered last year in our OT units, including the PEOP model, occupations, SMART goals and clinical reasoning, and also learned more about occupational performance issues. It was actually good to have the refresher as we'll be using these heavily in this unit, and my other units this trimester.

The unit chair seems great, really approachable. He is also really engaging, which is awesome. I actually spoke with him previously, but I'll write about that a bit further down.

Module & Readings: Introduction
Spoiler
I've pretty much summarised the information we went through above. The readings were pretty basic, just reiterating the information in the module and seminar.

I did get a head start on the Week 2 module. I've done everything for this unit for week 2, except for the seminar and one of the textbook readings. That's making me feel in a pretty good position. I wish I could have worked further ahead just in case I get a flare up with my health, but unfortunately the unit chair only releases the modules a week before the seminar  :(

The Week 2 module was really interesting though - we looked at cardiac conditions and respiratory conditions. It was surprisingly fairly content heavy, but I almost didn't notice because I was enjoying it so much.

We covered the basic anatomy and physiology of both systems (we've looked at this previously so it was just a brief overview) and then looked at both systems together within the cardiopulmonary system. Then we dove right in and looked at coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, and finally COPD (which includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis & chronic asthma).

We then looked at how these conditions fit within the PEOP model. What are the person factors of an individual with this condition (physiological, cognition, psychosocial, etc.)? What are the environment factors of an individual with this condition? What occupations might someone with this condition have difficulties with (OPIs) and what can we as OT's do (assessments, management, heavy focus on rehabilitation)?

From what I've seen, W2 pretty much has the same structure as the rest of the weeks. i.e. we look at a particular series of conditions, the physiology of the conditions, apply it to the PEOP, etc. Having a look at my timetable, I'm really excited for some of the weeks to come. It looks like we're going to be covering some interesting topics (burns, ASD,  degenerative neurological conditions, and more).

On another note, I bought 3x11 of those thin folders with the sleeves (what do you call those things?). They were very cheap, thankfully. I am using a folder per unit per week to put all my "notes/content/readings" in. I feel like this is the best option for me right now (even though I hate that it's really wasteful). It will also give me some time when I can study without looking at a screen; I'm hoping this will help with the headaches I've been getting this week.

I have also created a checklist so I can tick off each of the "activities" I do for each unit (module, seminar, notes, each reading, each video, etc.). I've used this in the past and it's really motivated me to keep on track and remember what I have and haven't done.

Thoughts
Spoiler
Fantastic unit so far. Maybe even one of my favourite, but it's a bit early to tell.

I am a little concerned as the unit chair has really pushed it down our throats that we should look at assessments in terms of scores, but of understanding the content. That's all good and actually a fantastic tip, but... it also makes me thing they are really harsh markers and are just easing us into it lol wish me luck.

HSO205 Occupations in Childhood Development
Class
Spoiler
This was my second class of the year! (spoiler - my units are in order of classes) It was also online and went for an hour and a half.

Again, this class was mostly about introducing the unit. Gotta be honest, I'm so tired writing this that I don't actually remember the class. I'm just going to check my notes lol

Okay, got it. That's right. This week was largely about evidence based practice, collaboration with parents/guardians, operant conditioning, cognitive development, social learning, and a number of theories including social cultural development, ecological/dynamic system, temperament & resilience, and really signifying the difference between child development and the occupational development of a child - the later talking about the PEOP again (I think the PEOP is going to be a common theme this trimester ;D)

Seminar
Spoiler
This was my (you guessed it) third seminar this week! It was on campus and went for an hour and a half.

Lord, I forgot how confusing the waterfront campus is. It's legit a maze lol. There's four levels, and the entrance isn't even called the ground floor or floor 1 - it's like floor 2 or 3 or something. I had to go through two courtyards, down stairs and ramps to find it - thankfully I only got lost once. I walked down this dark hallway and nearly had a myocardial infarction  ;) when the lights turned on when I walked passed the rooms.

The actual seminar was great. It was so weird being around people. I've lost any semblance of social skills during quarantine lol. I didn't recognise anyone. It was like last year all over again haha

We dove further into the topics above, but also did a few practical activities. We had toys on the table in front of us and we had to analyse them using (once again, you guessed it) the PEOP model lol. The word PEOP is starting to become more engrained in my brain than mols did in vce chemistry  ;D

An interesting dynamic - no one was required to wear a mask in the seminars. I was the only one wearing one haha. I am going to speak to my doctor to discuss my risks as I'm immunocompromised, but given that masks generally only work if the people around you are wearing them, it seems fairly pointless for me to wear one during seminars. I'd still prefer to consult my doctor just in case.

Module
Spoiler
Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed to see that there isn't really any module - it just refers you to read these three chapters of a textbook and watch these two hours of videos. Yikes. That's not my preferred method of learning, but I'm trying to adapt. I'm going to print the seminar slides to take notes beside during class and seminars, and I'm printing the textbook readings to highlight, etc.

Now it's just a matter of finding the motivation to do those fairly mind numbing activities. I'm really thankful that I did HPS202 - I have a fairly strong understanding of child development, so all I really have to do is apply the OT concepts to it, as opposed to other students who are learning both together. It will still be good to refresh the development as I go though.

I have glanced at W2 readings, but haven't gone too far into it. I'll get back on top of that next week.

Thoughts
Spoiler
It seems like a pretty good unit. I wasn't quite as impressed with the structure, but the unit chair seems great and the seminar was fun and the content is interesting. I'm already trying to figure out some type of reward system for doing the readings - any recommendations would be great

HSO207 Neurological Structure, Function & Plasticity
Seminar
Spoiler
So, after the on campus seminar, I got to rush home for this online seminar.

Again, lots of introductory talk, but also a lot of content. A LOT of content. The unit chair (who is absolutely lovely) has promised it will ease a little after W3, but I'm praying it doesn't smother me in the mean time.

It was actually really awesome (and likely my most interactive online session of all my units). We went into breakout groups for activities and I got to meet more people, finally.

Got mocked for completing trimester 3 with sarcasm so dead that it almost went over my head lmao. Normally I'm the person who says this with such a straight face that people don't realise I'm kidding. I understand how it feels now  ;D

My groups worked through the activities pretty quickly, so we had some spare time to chat, which was awesome. It also made me feel more confident at the information as I felt I could apply it fairly well.

Stroke was a main theme of the session, which drew from the material we had learned in the module and readings.

Module
Spoiler
Oh boy. I almost have no words  :'(

The content was a little overwhelming at first, but I quickly became interested and enjoyed reading through it all. By halfway through the week, I'd given up writing notes and decided printing the modules was the best way to go. I'd rather spent time understanding and applying the content, then mindlessly typing stuff I'm not even processing.

We went over a lot of stuff we'd covered before and a fair bit we hadn't. This weeks theme was genetics & behaviour. We covered the use of neuroscience in OT, genes and epigenetic's, the nervous system, neurodevelopment in children versus adults, how to apply a top-down approach, the anatomy and physiology, and how to link it to function and occupational performance issues and OT practice.  It was... well, a lot.

I also have completed the notes and module for W2. The topic for that week is nervous system: anatomy and brain development. This module was a little drier than the previous week.

We looked at neural development (growth of neurons and increase in synapses), the nervous system as one integrated continuous system, the basic of the central nervous system, the basics of the brain and spinal cord (anatomy and physiology), neuroplasticity, and then we once again utilised a top-down approach, linked anatomy and physiology to function and OPI's and OT practice.

Of note, we did look into the Circle of Willis and the Middle Cerebral Artery, which were interesting.

The next couple of weeks are looking more interesting (I think they had to go back over the basics as they form the foundation of this unit). I knew a lot of the content in w2, and there isn't really an easy way to explain all the structures of the brain without it taking lots of time (my general consensus: the brain is complicated).

I also formed my group for my group assessment during the seminar. We were discussing the assessment during an overview and I just typed that if anyone wanted to join a group with me and also knew no one, to stay behind for a couple of minutes. (I mean, I haven't really met anyone and it had to be people from our seminar - how else was I going form a group? No idea how others are going to do it) Thankfully, two people stayed. We're going to meet up on Monday to talk about the assessment, which is great (I mean, second week and my group is willing to meet to go through the assessment? Feeling pretty lucky)

Thoughts
Spoiler
Really looking forward to what's to come from this unit. I find being able to apply what we're learning in this unit to be the best part of it. The assessments are also looking pretty great.

Overall thoughts

Spoiler
This week was equally amazing and concerning. These units are a bit more full on than I was expecting (and I was expecting as second year units that they would be more full on). I'm not too worries - I'm ahead, the assessments look great (except for the exams lol) - but I am certainly putting things in place to create a good routine. I can't afford to fall behind this trimester.

I also have to find a way to decrease the impact this week had on my health. I was going great, until Wednesday. By Wednesday night, I was starting to get genuinely concerned about whether or not I could cope with this trimester and my health.

I had a bad flare up, but it wasn't just my back that flared up, it was also my feet and ankles. I was halfway home between my on campus and online class and I just had to stop. I literally couldn't take another step without feeling like I was walking on shards of glass. Feeling stranded in a new place is a very uncomfortable feeling and is one of my worst fears. Thankfully, I managed to get back after resting my feet for a few minutes, but it's made me very determined to be more careful. Not gonna lie, it scared me for a minute there - I really doubted my ability to get through this trimester, but I'm currently formulating ideas of how I can better manage this problem. It snuck up on me is all, I haven't had foot and ankle pain that severe since my yr8-9 days. I'm actually really proud that I brought myself out of that poor mindset pretty quick and am now focussed on solutions.

Regardless, I'm still really looking forward to this trimester.

I've made the decision to designated Friday as my Assessment day - regardless of where I am at with my weekly work, Friday is for assessments only. I think this is going to really work well for me, in terms of not rushing out assessments last minute.

Other
There were a few other things of note this week that didn't fit anywhere else.

DRC plan and placement:
Spoiler
So HSO202 has a simulated placement at the end of the trimester. It is full time for 1 week, which is obviously a little concerning following my issue on Wednesday.

I also had a meeting to review my disability access plan. Everything is still in place, but I brought up what I could do in terms of the simulated placement. She suggested that I email the unit chair to discuss it further.

I emailed all the unit chairs anyway to introduce myself and let them know about my disability access plan, but I tacked on the question to the HSO202 unit chair.

We ended up speaking on the phone and discussing my options. Basically, I have lots of options and also very few options. There are things I can do if it gets too much, but nothing I can do to prevent it from getting too much. I.e. I can stop midweek and do the second half the following week if I absolutely have to, but I can't do alternate days. It's not ideal, but it's something. At least I know I have a chance to pass the placement at least. Anyway, the unit chair was really nice. He's done similar things for other students in the past, so that makes me feel better at least.

Now it's up to me to build up to that before the end of trimester

Fridge
Spoiler
So, my fridge and freezer stopped working this week. I had like three months of prepped food in there that I had to throw out, so that sucks. Their solution? Turn it off and on again  ;D. Now I'm waiting to see if that fixed it, which means... no fridge in the mean time. yay.

I am waiting for my first proper rate payment from centrelink (I'd been given a partial payment my first week for... reasons?) So, rent is due in a couple of weeks, I've got no food and no money. #brokeandhangry

Study Support
Spoiler
This post has been very up and down haha. On a better note, I spoke with a writing mentor at deakin via study support via an online meeting. She was amazing and it will definitely be a resource I utilise frequently. I basically got to go through the rubric for an assessment with her and what I'd planned and she could help make sure I'm on the right track. I'm definitely going back next week to make sure I'm on the right track with my other assessments.

I also think once I get feedback, I'll go through it with them so they can help me see where I can improve and maybe better interpret the feedback. I normally do this on my own, but it would be great to have a second pair of eyes who is a bit more objective than I am.

I went through one of my previous essays with her and it was a great help. She said that I probably should have spoken to the unit chair to get better clarification on why I had been marked down for a certain section as the marker didn't specify and she couldn't see anything wrong with it. She told me to do that in the future if I'm unsure, but the thought of that makes me really uncomfortable. I respect the feedback I get back, I just wished things were a little clearer so I could have improved on the problem - but I don't even know what the problem was lol.


Okay, so this update has taken me longer than I'd like to admit to write. I'm pretty much falling asleep as I'm typing lmao - why isn't there a sleepy emoticon?  :'(

I'll leave this here, but I've probably forgotten heaps. As I said, this week was absolutely packed. It was also full of ups and downs. Nothings ever boring at least  ;D

I'll update next Friday. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully... Well, I'll try  ;D


Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: K888 on March 13, 2021, 05:53:22 pm
Quote
Of note, we did look into the Circle of Willis and the Middle Cerebral Artery, which were interesting.

Having to remember the circle of willis and all of its branches still haunts my dreams. But it's super interesting to learn about how infarcts in different arteries cause different impairments! I hope neuroanatomy is as pleasant as possible for you this semester haha.
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 14, 2021, 02:21:45 pm
Having to remember the circle of willis and all of its branches still haunts my dreams. But it's super interesting to learn about how infarcts in different arteries cause different impairments! I hope neuroanatomy is as pleasant as possible for you this semester haha.

haha, thanks K888! It's certainly an interesting area of study. Definitely lots to remember  ;D
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 22, 2021, 05:09:15 pm


Sorry I'm a few days late for the update. I had a bit of a flare up over the weekend, so I wasn't able to do so earlier. Week 2 to Week 3 is usually the time that I start to feel the impact on my health, so I was semi-expecting it.

Week 2 was fairly mellow. There wasn't really much to note as I've discussed the topics in a previous post.

I did get my results back for my first Quiz. So here those are:

HSO207
AT3 Quiz 1 [1%] = 5/5 = 100% = 1/1

So yeah, pretty happy with that. I mean, it's 1% haha  ;D but the quizzes are worth 10% overall, so if I can get as close to 100% on them as possible, it will be a great chance to grab some points. My unit chair has also said the quizzes are similar to the exam, so it'll make me feel a bit more confident about the exam if I do well with the quizzes.

Week 3 is pretty hectic.

I was meant to have an on-campus class today, but I didn't go due to my flare up this past weekend. I decided it wasn't worth pushing myself for, given that I am going on campus tomorrow for a group meeting and the following day for another class. I do also have the opportunity for a site visit on Wednesday, but I don't think I could manage walking there and then back to the campus and then back home after this past weekend so I'll probably give that a miss and just attend the afternoon class. Not ideal as I would have loved to go to the class today and the site visit on Wednesday, but a little disappointment is better than pain.

I'm actually pretty happy with where I'm at in terms of keeping up with content. Except for a couple of videos, I'm up to date for HSO202 and HSO205. And except for the readings, I've finished Week 4 for HSO207. I would have liked to have at least 1 assessment completed by now, however I am still waiting on some info from the unit chair before I can start it. Really keen to get stuck into it!

I've got another Quiz due tomorrow night, so that's on my to do list for tomorrow!

I guess I'll see you next update  :)
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 25, 2021, 06:57:15 pm

Another 1%! Yay! lmao

I got my second quiz results back  ;D

HSO207
AT3 Quiz 1 [1%]: 05.00/05.00 = 100.00% = 01.00/01.00
AT3 Quiz 2 [1%]: 05.00/05.00 = 100.00% = 01.00/01.00
=002.00/100.00

Don't mind me  ;D I'm celebrating the small things
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: Justin_L on March 25, 2021, 07:00:49 pm
Congrats! It might be small, but the small things add up!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on March 26, 2021, 12:37:30 pm
Congrats! It might be small, but the small things add up!

Thanks Justin_L!
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on May 04, 2022, 01:38:31 am


Oof. It’s been over a year… so that was a bit of a blur … oops?

Where to start…

The placement significantly impacted my health. I barely made it through, but the aftermath was even worse. It’s taken up until now for my health to really even back off to what it was (though it’s still splotchy). Knowing I would have to manage that again the next trimester, and a great deal more in 2022 … I knew I had to take a step back and figure something else out.

Placement ended on a Friday, and by the very next Tuesday I had transferred courses (it was the deadline for mid year enrolments). It was a tough decision, but I knew it was the right one for my health. As you can imagine, that Monday was filled with many stressful phone calls (with some very lovely, patient Deakin staff). Thankfully, majority of my units and results could also be transferred over, along with (most of) my scholarship (I’m still at Deakin uni), which was amazing. I was also lucky my results were reasonable as I didn’t have any difficulty qualifying for the transfer.

So, now I’m almost a year into the Bachelor of Public Health & Health Promotion! I enrolled as a cloud student, so everything I do is online and I only have one placement I need to do, right at the end of the course (which I now finish at the end of next year). I’m actually really enjoying the units too; I thought some of them might be a bit dry, but they’re not at all. I’m even quite keen on doing an honours year after this as there is a couple of areas I’m keen to explore further.

I’ll leave this here for now. I will likely make a few more posts in the coming few weeks just updating what units I’m doing, about the course, and so on. I’m fairly under the pump with assessments and health appointments currently, so I’ll see how I go. Overall, I don’t regret changing courses at all.

I know this has become a habit of mine - disappear off the face of the earth and then pop back in for a short time lol. I can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I can say, as with this journals title, I won’t give up trying. Okay, I’ll stop being cheesy and dawdling now.

For reference:

https://www.deakin.edu.au/course/bachelor-public-health-and-health-promotion




Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: heids on May 05, 2022, 02:54:53 pm
Lovely to see an update - I've enjoyed reading all your journal and wondered where you were! 

Although it must have been disappointing in many ways, it sounds like this has turned out to be a better fit for your life anyway.  I'm sure you'll have so much to contribute through public health - any ideas on your specific areas of interest?  I'd love to hear more about your units - public health has always had a niggling interest for me.  (I'm the person who hates uni and assignments SO much but still somehow wants to do forty other degrees when I finish my current one ::))
Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on May 08, 2022, 12:37:01 am


Hello again,

I forgot how weird these are to begin. Anyway…

Thanks, heids! It was definitely disappointing, but I don’t regret my decision (thankfully!). I’m really interested in disability and rural health, so I think I’ll always gravitate to that area of health. It was awesome to explore that on an individual level in OT, but it’s been interesting to consider it on a broader level in the Bachelor of Public Health & Health Promotion (BPH&HP). It’s actually given me a little more faith in the public health system surprisingly haha

I feel you with wanting to do heaps of degrees after this one – I feel like every year I find another one that interests me and want to do as well. I am that odd one who actually enjoys most assessments more than the content – but I understand why you wouldn’t (the time pressure can make them less enjoyable for me). But I also enjoy just combing through literature about anything and everything, so that probably helps a lot.

The Bachelor of Public Health & Health Promotion drew me in more than other courses because it was health related, could be completed online, offered reasonable employment opportunities, and had far less work experience/placement requirements; it also offered me the opportunity to shift my point of view. As someone with health issues, who is always around lots of people with disabilities and health issues, my understanding was always very individual focussed; branching that out to understand how individual’s health are linked has been an interesting learning curve.

BPH&HP is a 3-year course with 24 units. 9 OT units were able to be moved over with my transfer, which was awesome. I transferred at the start of Trimester 2 2021 and completed 3 units, and then a 4th over Trimester 3. I’m currently taking 3, and then I’ll have 8 to go (finishing 2023 – same time as I would have originally in OT). I’ll list them below:

Unit – WAM, Letter Grade/GPA

Transferred across:
HSO102 – 77, D, 6
HBS109 – 73, D, 6
HBS110 – 78, D, 6

HSE102 – 82, HD, 7
HSO104 – 74, D, 6
HBS107 – 85, HD, 7
HPS202 – 77, D, 6

HSO202 – 72, D, 6
HSO207 – 77, D, 6

Began BPH&HP:
HBS108 – 73, D, 6
HSH113 – 79, D, 6
HSH212 – 77, D, 6

HBS300 - 80, HD, 7

77.23 - Current WAM
6.23 - Current GPA

Current units:
HSH205 –
HSH318 –
HSH323 –

Future units:
HSH216
HSH313
HSH319

HSH102
HSH112
HSH208
HSH302

HSH303 (practical unit)


I’m really enjoying my current units, HSH205, HSH318, & HSH323. I’ll just give my thoughts on each, alongside my current marks, and current overall unit averages.


HSH205 – Epidemiology & Biostatistics 1

This unit has been challenging but in a good way. It’s been particularly interesting in the context of COVID-19. It’s also helped me better understand how to gauge the strengths of literature/articles and what diseases look like in community settings, which will be useful if I do go ahead with an honour’s year.

Assessment Task 1 – 20.00%
Quiz 1 – 05.00/05.00
Quiz 2 – 05.00/05.00
Quiz 3 – 04.00/05.00
Quiz 4 –

Assessment Task 2 – 40.00%
Short Answer Questions –

Assessment Task 3 – 40.00%
Examination –

Current Average: 93.33%

https://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students-courses/unit-search.php?year=2022&entunit=hsh205&entkeyword=


HSH318 – Implementation & Evaluation

This unit pairs well with HSH323 as it further explores program evaluation introduced in HSH323. The analysis aspect of this unit has been awesome – right up my alley. It looks at programs in communities and teaches us frameworks to evaluate/appraise them both in the validity of the studies and their results.

Assessment Task 1 – 35.00%
Critical Appraisal Report – 33.00/35.00

Assessment Task 2 – 45.00%
Evaluation Proposal –

Assessment Task 3 – 20.00%
Examination –

Current Average: 94.29%

https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2022&hidYear=2022&hidType=&txtUnit=hsh318&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=


HSH323 – Program Planning, Management, & Evaluation

This unit looks at developing community-based programs in communities – from planning to evaluating. It offers great insight to direct application in a practical setting; the assessments are all very similar to actual forms and applications we may have to utilise in some roles beyond this degree. It’s surprisingly interesting, rather than monotonous – getting to develop programs and assessing real communities for their health needs… I almost wish I wasn’t so under the pressure to get these assessments out so quickly, as I would have loved to dive into this even further.

Assessment Task 1 – 35.00%
Needs Assessment Plan – 33.00/35.00

Assessment Task 2 – 15.00%
Funding Pitch –

Assessment Task 3 – 50.00%
Funding Submissions -

Current Average: 94.29%

https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2022&hidYear=2022&hidType=&txtUnit=hsh323&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=

Not going to lie, this course has opened my eyes to a number of roles that just sound incredibly rewarding, even just for the short run. I mean, developing programs to improve the health of those with disabilities? I am so on board for that; it actually sounds a little too idyllic – I’m sure there’s a catch somewhere (likely in amongst poor funding opportunities limiting possibilities, but still)! It’s also really strengthened my resolve to contribute to disability research – I’m pretty set on honours, but depending how I go, I’m open to considering a masters or (if I’m lucky) a PhD, before I move on to medicine (hopefully).

I think I’ll leave this here for now. It’s already so long haha some habits don’t die. I don’t know if I’ll have much opportunity for the next couple of weeks (I’ve got like four weeks to get all of the above assessments in, and my flare ups have been a pain lately), but I aim to check in every now and then. I'm sure I'm forgetting something I meant to write about, but oh well.

And... finishing these is just as difficult as starting them still. So, yeah... bye!

Title: Re: Never Give Up - a university journey journal
Post by: KatherineGale on July 07, 2022, 09:10:09 pm

Another trimester down… and another just beginning!

Been a busy few weeks, so here’s a brief recap:

-completed a mammoth round of assessment tasks
-survived that ^ somehow (barely)
-health sunk to a low I haven’t experienced since pre-diagnosis
-medications increased
-new medications added
-diagnosed with autism (a lot of things make more sense lol)
-reduced study workload to part time
-centrelink cut off my payments due to above ^
-healthcare card cancelled (my medications alone cost almost $200 per month without it – and almost $700 total on top of my medications not covered haha) and currently waiting on jobseeker claim (thank goodness I have a med cert)
-got results for last trimester
-reordered my course so I could go part-time and manage my health

I’ll probably focus on those last two points in this post.

Trimester 1 2022 Results:


HSH205 Epidemiology & Biostatistics 1

AT1 Quizzes – 18.00/20.00 (90.00%)
AT2 Short Answer – 26.50/40.00 (66.25%)
AT3 Exam (estimated based on results) – 31.50/40.00 (78.75%)

Total: 76 Distinction

I thought I’d completely bombed the exam (like I did with AT2), but somehow in all the chaos I actually kinda didn’t? I don’t know how, but I’m not questioning it lol


HSH318 Implementation & Evaluation

AT1 Critical Appraisal Report – 33.00/35.00 (94.29%)
AT2 Evaluation Proposal – 33.00/45.00 (73.33%)
AT3 Exam – 15.00/20.00 (75.00%)

Total: 81 High Distinction

I don’t know how I scraped by with the HD, but I’m thrilled with it.


HSH323 Program Planning, Management, & Evaluation

AT1 Needs Assessment Plan – 33.00/35.00 (94.29%)
AT2 Funding Pitch – 14.00/15.00 (93.33%)
AT3 Funding Submission – 43.00/50.00 (86.00%)

Total: 90 High Distinction

I think this is the highest overall I have ever gotten for a unit, so I was really shocked by it haha


Overall, with how I felt during the trimester when completing these units, these scores are practically a miracle for me. I’m excited to get my health back on track to see what kind of scores I could achieve then…

These results have changed my WAM and GPA as well:

WAM: 78.19
GPA: 6.31

They are small changes, but I’m really happy that I’m *this* close to a HD average and my original minimum goal of 6.4. I mean it was always what I was working towards, but it’s different to see the number tick up closer. And whilst the numbers aren’t everything or even necessarily what I need them to be yet, they give me a lot of options to look at. Especially since I realised Deakin will not include units undertaken in 2020 in their medicine entry totals, so my scores go up a little bit more:

WAM: 78.33
GPA: 6.33

*I haven’t weighted these either, so that will help too!

It’s not much difference, but I’m all for celebrating the little things haha – I’ve added a more comprehensive summary at the very end of this for clarity, along with my current unit plan moving forward.

So, yeah, that's 16/24 units done. It's so weird, I feel like I just started uni yesterday haha


--------------------------------


Moving onto this next trimester, I’m taking two units:


HSH216 Epidemiology & Biostatistics 2

This unit continues on from HSH205. Honestly, I feel like this unit is the most I’ve been out of my depth. We are basically learning how to use statistic software programs to analyse health data. I’m looking forward to widening my skills, but I’m also hopeless with technology haha – the only real experience I have is with Microsoft word lol. It has a 2-hour seminar each week and 3 assessments (that we have not been given much info about yet) including:

AT1 Assignment; 1500 words; 40% weighted; due week 5
AT2 Online MCQ; n/a; 20% weighted; n/a
AT3 Assignment; 1500 words; 40% weighted; n/a

https://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students-courses/unit-search.php?year=2022&entunit=hsh216&entkeyword=


HSH319 Population Health: A Research Perspective

This unit also continues on from HSH205, and HBS108. I feel like I have more skills suited to these types of assessments than HSH216, but I don’t want to jinx myself lol. It mainly focuses on applying sampling, designing, and conducting studies, questionnaire design and piloting, interview and focus group discussions, and transcription and analysis of qualitative data in a practical way. I think this unit will be super useful for Honours year, so fingers crossed. It has a 2-hour seminar each week and 3 assessments including:

AT1 Written Assignment; 800 words; 20% weighted; due week 5
AT2 Qualitative Research; 1800 words; 45% weighted; due week 8
AT3 quantitative research; 1400 words; 35% weighted; due week 11

https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses-search/unit-search.php?hidCurrentYear=2022&hidYear=2022&hidType=&txtUnit=hsh319&txtTitle=&txtKeyword=&selLevel=Select&selSemester=Select&selMode=Select&selLocation=Select&chkSortby=unit_cd&btnSubmit=


I’m going to finish this off here as it’s getting a bit long and clunky. Until next time…

Also, the dot point form really worked for me to get things said more concisely – might start doing that a bit more.


--------------------------------


As mentioned, here is a clearer overview:

Unit – WAM, Letter Grade/GPA

HSO102 – 77, D, 6
HBS109 – 73, D, 6
HBS110 – 78, D, 6

HSE102 – 82, HD, 7
HSO104 – 74, D, 6
HBS107 – 85, HD, 7
HPS202 – 77, D, 6

HSO202 – 72, D, 6
HSO207 – 77, D, 6

HBS108 – 73, D, 6
HSH113 – 79, D, 6
HSH212 – 77, D, 6

HBS300 - 80, HD, 7

HSH205 – 76, D, 6
HSH318 – 81, HD, 7
HSH323 – 90, HD, 7

[1251/16 = WAM]
[101/16 = GPA]

78.19 - Current WAM
6.31 - Current GPA

Future Units:

HSH216
HSH313
HSH319
HSH102
HSH112
HSH208
HSH302
HSH303 (practical unit)