Any other imperfect students here?

Hi Purple cat

I too am a bad student, this year I took on 2 courses at the same time, but unfortunately all the assignments had to be submitted within a week of each other. As a result I got a bit bogged down what with all the other things I have to do, so I ended up only studying enough to get the TMA done each month. I manage to get the TMA done in time for one of the courses but for the other, I am always late. I have only been to 1 of the 7 possible tutorials that I could have attended mainly because of work. I am now at the point where I have an exam in 4 weeks and I don't know anything about the course other than what I wrote for the assignments, and I should be studying right now, but no, I am writing on Platform!

To all you lovely people, I am beyond rubbish. I think I must be the worst. I have not handed in my last three TMA's this year in fact, have resigned myself to giving up on 2009. Even my tutor does not seem to have noticed (he keeps emailing saying he is sorry to be so slow in marking).

I got really demoralised after my first TMA this year came back full of criticism, and just could not find the energy to go on with it. Strange really as I have done 5 x 60-pointers before and never hit such a brick wall but maybe it happens to us all.

Anyway, I need to discover the motivation to carry on next year. I only ventured back onto the OU online today, so this is my first outing as a drop-out! Above all thanks for showing me I am not alone! And I hope that, at least, you guys can crack on churning out the TMAs - better late than never!

Am I rubbish or just efficient?

I manage to cram stacks of studying into the last minute. TMAs at the last minute and wondering if I move to another timezone will this give me some additional time. I just pass every TMA and exam by the skin of my teeth. I sit in tutorials wondering whether I've actually read that part of the course - apparently I have!!

I celebrate the fact that I have perfected satisficing, survival gives me my edge. Just a shame it causes so much STRESS along the way.

I threaten to become more efficient but lets get real!!

I'm proud to be efficiently disorganised and rubbish.

Anyway I've got some procrastinating to do!

Andy

Hi All,

I am a self confessed, very ordinary, if not somewhat lazy student. I ask for an extension on every TMA and realised very quickly that I only have to get 40% to pass.
I am a mother of 4 children and now a grandmother too. I have always worked full time and started studying with the OU back in 2001.
At the end of this course (3 TMA's & 1 Exam to go) I will have a BSc, Dip comp & 3 certificates to my name. Thats all I ever wanted.

I left school at 16,with 11 O levels. My Mum & Dad wouldn't let me go to college, they said I only wanted to go because I was too lazy to work and they wouldn't keep me. Needless to say, I also left home at 16 not long after. Got married at 19 fortunately to a lovely man and weve been married 25 years.

I have evolved along the way from a school dinner lady / Kitchen assistant to working as an ICT consultant for the county council, looking after the ICT needs of 14 schools.
I have to do my studying between being a taxi service & chief cook etc. for my children It is normally done in the car between school visits, lunch time or after ferrying the kids around.

It has been a real struggle to keep anywhere near on task for most of my courses, but still I would recommend it to anyone who wants to progress in life.

Theresa

hi, did you ever feel you know you can do, and leave it to the last minute then wonder why you get such crap results. i have just spent the last 8 years working towards my degree, and finally through sheer determination i am finally there, had to resit most of the exams, but you no matter what its seeing it through that matters.
Ev

Imperfect! That is an understatement.

Volunteering as a Tutor at the Local college, Chair of a Tenants Assocaition, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors, Dealing with Community issues and problems and still fighting to get sorted after a operation that went wrong.

Realising that, Hey - I know this! The idea's are there, the knowledge is, the experience and yet when it comes to putting it to paper. It appears that I know nothing! That is very annoying.

So to all the others, keep battling through it!

Hey if you think your an inadequate student then I would have to dissagree, I get fusrtated every day with myslef and my work, late tma,s and evrything else. Dyslexia has a lot to answer for and I hate that word, and no one really understands or listens to me. So hey Im yelling all of the time. Are there any others like me or am I unique. Who am I trying to kid trying to do an OU degree with Dyslexia. Everyone says I hear you I will help out and then they put so many obstacles in the way just to make it all the more frustrating than it already is. Is there anyone who hearswhat I say or not? Thanks for listening Phillz.

Well hello people! I am also constantly submitting TMA's late and worrying that I will never be good enough to pass the exam, but hey its not a hanging offence. I have studied with the O.U. in the past and have come to realise that in spite of my lack of self confidence, I manage to do ok. I don't hold down a job, because of ill health and disability and as I am now the ripe old age of 55 there's no chance of triplets!I also have Dispraxia just to add to the mix,However, I am proud of what I have achieved not just with the O.U. but in the context of my whole life, which is why its important to keep a balanced view and try to see the whole picture. I am currently praying that I have managed to pass K202, and looking forward to studying K303 this year too.

I would also like to mention my tutor Bernie, without whose help and support I probably would have lost heart and given up. We are in the end all individuals though and thats why comparing ourselves to others is detrimental and useless to us anyway.

I wish everyone else all the best with their studies, no matter how normal or otherwise you feel you are each of us counts!

I'm glad to hear I'm not alone. Living in Europe gives me one welcome extra hour for my TMAs, I can't count the times I've hit the "send" button at 00:59 local time...and there are always other things that need to be done, ironing suddenly looks enticing, and the curtain rails need dusted...

I work full time as a language teacher, often working late, and being disciplined in my study habits has always been a struggle through 6 years of OU. Fortunately my tutors have always been very understanding and have supported me during the times I wanted to chuck it all in.

Hi PurpleCat!
I am totally rubbish and gleefully join the ranks. I have to remind my self that I chose to do this and the hardest part wasn't handing over my credit card details!I'd like to think I could give my life over to charity and still earn a full-time wage, be there for all my friends and family and still manage the odd Sunday afternoon in front of a film as well as study to timetable, but sadly I'd rather enjoy myself when I can (when not at work)and fit the other stuff around that! I acknowledge and embrace my rubbishness!

Studying seems to be all about feeling guilty for not studying hard enough!

Like everyone else I'm constantly trying to balance work & life - it doesn't have to be a tragedy to interrupt the studies - the arrival of beloved nieces and nephews could be enough.

Reading through the comments are the threads of feeling useless/inadequate/not good enough. Is that something we feel in our lives outside of studying and just bring to the studying?? Or is it that we expect too much of ourselves - one comment was that we are all extraordinary and I know that's true - it's just hard to apply to to myself.

We'd all love to excel and believe we could if only we had the time! I work with someone who did a part-time degree at the local university, she got a 1st Class Honours! Now she says that while she was studying she put her whole life on hold and she says that she doesn't think it was worth it. Also that she'll never study again - nothing, no way.

So, we may not live up to our own personal images of the perfect student or the student we feel we should be, we're not doing too badly. Most of us will get there and as for the rest of us, we shouldn't be afraid to ask for help. That's one of the things the Open University have traditionally been exceptional at - looking after students in difficulties.

For every OU qualification I have done, there have been plenty of late TMA's and seizures in motivation (usually caused by a crisis of self-confidence in my ability to do the course/research).

I've just finished an OU qualification which took me over 7 years to complete and, right up until the final exam, I did not really believe that I would either complete the qualification or, if I did, that I would be able to do so without some kind of major cock-up.

The odd thing is that, when I have completed OU qualifications, the memory of all that anxiety is simply erased - I need to be positively reminded of it to acknoeldge its existence. When I do remember that anxiety and floundering, I seem to dismiss it as nothing because the sheer relief of completing swallows it all up in one gulp.

 Thanks for starting this thread, it's really comforting to know that so many OU students are similar to me, makes me feel much better about myself, and even happier about finally enroling with the OU :-)

In all honesty, I am absolutely terrified, I've got some mental issues, and that worries me, but I'm hoping my course will keep me focused!

This is a great idea for a thread, and there's some really inspiring comments here :-)

Em

Thank you all.

I don't work and am a mum to only two.  I am constantly striving to be the perfect partner,mother and student but fail dismally at all three.  On the positive side no-one has left or died yet and I havent got the results for the 2 courses I have submitted yet so I can worry about them then.  I do try to get ahead and have started work on my next course that starts in October but not a single TMA will be submitted early.  Feelings of inadequacies do not begin to cover what I feel when I look at these forums usually so I have been staying well clear.  My tutor on the last course advised me to get more involved as more and more of the courses will be designed with this in mind.  I am so glad I found some normal people. 

Hi,

    It's nice to hear from people who sound normal in this discussion. There are far too many 'over the moon' and 'going swimingly' posts in most forums. If you are not and it isn't then it's all a bit dispiriting.  In fact I think there should be a new forum specifically for the less than perfect students who I think, contrary to what might be thought reading many forums, are in fact in a majority.

    What we need is a place to air the reality of the difficulties people face and to offer practical solutions to issues such as a lack of motivation, getting things done when time is short, and overcoming stress if need be. I just don't see that sort of thing in evidence from what I've seen of most forums so far.

   Steve