It's been a long time coming, but I finally bit the bullet at the end of last year and applied for university. I'm studying a Nursing degree through Charles Darwin University (yes, in Darwin!), and then I will do a post-graduate degree in Midwifery. No, we won't be moving to Darwin any time soon though!
I'm studying externally, which, while it does have it's drawbacks, was the perfect option for me. For starters, it's saving me around 2 hours of travel time a day. That's a huge time-saving right there. I can start studying as soon as the kids are at school, and I can finish studying and go straight into cooking dinner in the evenings - no waiting around for trains and buses or drive time. Studying externally means I have flexibility - no conforming to lecture and tutorial timetables, no contact hours. It also means I don't have to carry all those books to uni every day! The online learning environment takes some getting used to, but each unit has a learning guide and a weekly study plan which outlines your readings and tasks for that week. I also have a wide support network through the Learnline (that's the name of the online learning website) and unit discussion boards, my lecturers are all available to give help and advice and the CDU external nursing studies facebook page which has been a great help and given me a wealth of information.
Studying full time though, has meant an immense change for me. All of a sudden, I need to use time-management skills in a completely different way. I have to fit in 30 hours of study a week, as well fit in the things that I was already doing as a SAHM. I've just finished my first week and I am completely exhausted. I feel like I'm back to working 10 hour days. For most of this week I've felt like I got thrown in the deep end, completely bypassed the treading water stage and just went straight into drowning. I was in tears at one stage. But my wonderful husband, my dad and a few facebook friends (one of whom is in her 4th year doing this degree externally) put things into perspective and gave me some great advice.
We moved house right before uni started too. So uni started and I was STILL trying to organize the house the way I needed it to be. I do feel a little crazy :)
So, the next month or so is going to be difficult as I adjust to my new study schedule, and slowly change the way I run the house and the way we do things to accommodate the change in pace. For now, I am concentrating on getting into a study routine and being thorough - that is, checking each unit carefully to make sure I get all the information I need each week - I'd hate to miss an important assignment or something!
