Tales of the unexpected

The grand plan for Aber was to graduate as quickly as I could.  I planned to complete as many modules as I could in the first year, I don't know what's going to happen with my job or what the priorities will be for Marsh and I in the next year; a good first year, I thought, and we'll hope the momentum will keep me going.  So what's changed?  In my initial meeting with my tutor she gave me the impression that only superpeople complete in the two years, okay I thought, I'm disappointed but I'll take your advice.  I then received a 'phone call from the Open Learning Unit about an unrelated matter- I wish I could say a sundry matter, because I love that word- they asked if I was coming back for the September study school.  Bemused, I said I didn't know about that, thinking about my tutor's warning of 200 study hours per module, the lady on the other end cajoled me in a way that made it seem very possible.  Now I'm not some kind of academic wunderkind, and I'm sure that neither my comments from the floor nor my participation in the study school group exercises would have marked my card as a glowing hope for the future.  But despite the fact that I'm not a superperson, the lady on the other end of the 'phone seemed to think it was possible to complete enough modules to return in September, and she thought I, despite my lack of cape, was capable of doing it too.

I thought about this for a while.  The conclusion I came to is that both of them are right.  The first two assignments are relatively self explanatory: a journal review of a resource and an essay on the module's topics.  I could knock out an answer to both of them in a day; the answers wouldn't be great and there'd be very few references (which account for 10%) of the marks, but it is possible that they would pass.  Next!  Would I have learned anything though?

Shamefully the attitude I've had to this qualification for quite some time is that it's my 'piece of paper'.  "I can't get to the next level because I've not got my piece of paper", "there's no point in me applying for this post if I don't have the piece of paper."  I wouldn't say I've shown the qualification contempt, but neither have I afforded it the respect it deserved.  My experience of going to Aber and taking part in the study school brought that to light.  I enjoy my job and am passionately interested in my profession; study school was four days of being able to share that enthusiasm and interest with others.  I no longer felt like I was one of the few out there discussing the profession; I found allies, allies who said clever things and shared their experiences from the world outside academic library.

So, unexpectedly, I'm not going to rush through this degree as fast as I physically can.  I'm going to take some time to read, to think, and to explore the issues.  Not just because going to Aber has changed my mind about a library Master's, or about returning to education as a grown up- there's a whole other story there.  I'm going to take my time because I'm interested and because I want to learn; I don't just want a piece of paper.

If I do end up back at study school this September, so be it.  It won't be because I've blindly barrelled through the modules at lightning pace, it won't be because I've suddenly become a superperson, it'll be because I've been interested.  So interested in fact, that I'll have ruined my summer by staying in to study.