by Kristine | Mar 17, 2015 | Eternal Student, Personal, Working Woman
It’s now week 3 of uni & I’ve fell into a bit a heap, study wise. I had a site visit yesterday which I had to take time off from work for, which in the end, I didn’t learn much from due to a few reasons. I was with a bunch of noisy first years & I’m a learner who prefers to do their own thing at their own pace. To have so many people around me who knew each other, was a little intimidating to be honest. I can talk to CEOs & Directors but I can’t cope with 40 other students. Go figure.
I also spent a lot of my first year as an OT supporting someone who worked at the site & it brought back so many memories, both good & bad. It reminded me so much of how my old career intersects with my new. It’s strange. It also didn’t help that the bulk of the group were first year students, so the content of the site visit was very much aimed that way. I had to sit through explanations of stuff I do on a daily basis, no offence but I just wasn’t patient enough to do that yesterday, given that I had just sacrificed some work time for it. It just wasn’t enough bang for my buck. Literally.
I did pick up some things which I guess helped a bit but it’s mostly what I do on a daily basis in my job anyway. Just in a government department instead of the private sector. And on a much smaller scale. The thing that I took from the whole session is that they are hiring & for us to apply.
I know I sound pessimistic at the moment but I’m so unmotivated & am exhausted from it all. I work hard for things but don’t see results, which I guess deters me & unmotivates me in a way. I hate being on this head space & in a rut. I’m waiting on news to see if my interview 2 weeks ago went any good, I really need to be earning decent money again. And I need to be doing what I want to do. In which career, it doesn’t matter so much to me anymore, as long as I am able to have a balance in life.
Need to get it all out of me today to try to purge myself of all the negativity & reinvigorate my brain. It’s just been one of those days.
by Kristine | Mar 9, 2015 | Eternal Student, Kristine Moments
This is perhaps one of the more epic stories up here on the blog in more recent years. Matt and I were due to graduate on Tuesday 24th February 2015 – him for his Masters & me for my Grad Dip. I had gone down to Rockingham by train so that I could drive us up to Curtin to have our 10 seconds of fame for all the hard work we’ve put in. On the way down, there was impending chaos as there was a bushfire along the Kwinana near Anketell Road, causing the authorities to shutdown the Freeway from Armadale of Rowley Road to Mortimer Road, a pretty decent stretch & one of the main arteries in and out from the South metro area. On the train, I noticed a lot of people gasping & plenty of camera sounds. I looked up and no joke, I saw trees burning right by the side of the Freeway, with flames higher than the tree tops. The roads looked like a ghost town & by that stage, the fire had already jumped the Freeway to burn on the other side.
Our graduation ceremony started at 7pm and we were to be seated by 6.30pm for a video briefing. We left Rockingham at about 4pm, thinking we’d give it plenty of time for us to get through the traffic, given that the Freeway was closed where we needed to get on. Lo and behold, we had started driving & soon it became apparent that things were not looking good. We tried to get on to Stock Road, but traffic was really bad so we attempted to get on the Freeway on Thomas Road, given that either way we’d still be stuck. Got to Thomas Road and at the on ramp to the Freeway, there was a cop redirecting traffic as the Freeway was still closed. We got back on to Stock Road to try to give ourselves a fighting chance to get to our graduation. By the time 6pm came around, we hadn’t even reached Spearwood (20km from our initial starting point) & we had to call it quits as we were only halfway there. Both sides of the road were jam packed as far as the eye could see, we weren’t going to get out of there any time soon.
Turned around at that point & got to Phoenix to try to get some grub but all the back road were also congested & stopping to get food didn’t seem like such a good option as all the carparks were full. So back around to Rockingham we turned & we got to the local Maccas by 8.15pm. I needed to stretch my legs as they were cramped and my butt hurt from the 4 hour long drive. By the time we got back, my dad had messaged & said that the fireworks had come on after the graduation ceremony.
I must say I wasn’t too bothered about it all as it is my second degree and a Grad Dip. We’ve organised it so that we can go to the winter graduation ceremony mid-year. That’s probably a better option, given that the regalia is so thick & heavy, it’d be better suited to colder weather conditions teehee 🙂
What’s your graduation story?
by Kristine | Dec 8, 2014 | Eternal Student, Finance Matters, Growing Up, Super Secret Kristine Project, Working Woman
So it’s been just over 3 months since I’ve blogged. Since I last posted, I have hopefully finished the last of my units for my Grad Dip in Information and Library Studies, passed my probation at work & settled into my new role at work. I’ve been at my new work for about 2 months now & been settling in rather well. The only problem I have with the whole work situation is that I’m still a casual & if I can’t work for whatever reason, I’m screwed. That is in fact a very scary situation to be in, considering that I’ve got a mortgage over my head. I’m taking one day at a time & slowly looking for work as it comes along, building relationships along the way & networking. I’ve also got accepted to do my Masters in Information Management, I’ve decided to do this within 2 years rather than a year and a half.
It’s been a pretty eventful year & I’ve had many opportunities to reflect on where my life is headed. I’m hoping to start a few side projects which will help me get through the working day & keep my brain active doing what I love to do. I can’t quite say what it is yet, but all in due time. I’m also wanting to get back into reading more & blogging more about stuff. I’ve always struggled with keeping my private life off the internet & have been fiercely protective about what I put out there on the big internets. Hazard of the job I guess, knowing how much data is put into cyberspace daily is frightening, especially when it can be used against you. But, I’ve decided sharing & documenting bits of my life without giving away identifying information is as much as I want to do. I’ve got a few interesting blog posts lined up, so am really looking forward to getting into it.
I guess the reason why I’ve been absent from blogging is that after a long day’s work staring at the computer all day, the last thing I want to do is stare at the computer all night again. Staring at the computer screen for 7.5 hours a day while doing mundane tasks is really not my thing. I’ve been craving human interaction at work & not quite getting that much. Which is why I’ve also decided to turn to blogging again as a way to get my thoughts out in more than 140 characters. There is only so much I can put on Twitter, which I will still be on. I’ve always been one for writing & I’ve missed it. A lot more than I’ve actually realised.
At some point later this month, I will be reflecting more on the year gone by & looking to set some goals for next year & review what I’ve accomplished this year. It’ll be exciting and bittersweet to leave behind 2014, but I am looking forward to 2015 & for better beginnings! I’ve always been one to wait for the perfect time to do things but I am slowly beginning to live by the motto carpe diem, seize the day. There is only so much time I’ve got on this earth & waiting for the perfect time to do things is just not something I can afford to do anymore. Here’s to seizing the day!
by Kristine | Apr 27, 2014 | Eternal Student, Working Woman
Some of you might know that I’m a qualified Occupational Therapist (OT) but have never worked in a hospital or traditional OT role since I graduated 5 years ago. I fell into my previous job with a Disability Employment Service as I did my prac there and loved the job so much, that I never left. It wasn’t your traditional OT role, but I did enjoy the OT aspects of the role which included researching new equipment for clients and assisting them with obtaining funding for it. By the time I left, my traditional rehab type OT skills were non-existent, shall we say.
In my final year at work, I took the plunge and seriously explored library work as an alternative career. Why? Cause Matt made it look so enticing and to be honest, I’m a book nerd. Hey, I was always told off for reading at the table and actually tried to run my own library at home. Surely that was a sign? Anyway, it took me about 6 months to run the idea through before actually taking the plunge to start a Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Studies. I’m in my second semester (just over halfway through!) and I’m loving it. Ok, maybe I’m not loving all the assignment and essay parts of it all, but I’m enjoying that I’m being stimulated intellectually (oh, the irony!) and have goals to work towards.
I suppose it is quite tough moving from one career to another and I can attest to that. I’m currently unemployed and looking for work mainly in libraries as a library officer. Starting from the bottom, yo! I actually don’t mind it. Some people have the impression that I’m just settling into whatever job I can find, but honestly I love it. When I completed my 3 week prac, I was over the moon with what library officers to. There was little to no stress and pay was higher than my previous position (if you don’t look at the car and petrol part). I’ve put in some applications to libraries and hoping to hear back from them. I’ve also put in some applications for non-library roles, which are actually higher paying, but I’ll have to see.
Changing careers in your late 20s isn’t the easiest thing. But I figured, if I’m not happy where I am, I should do something to change it. I might not make the most money or be a millionaire by the time I’m 30, but I’ll be happy. And I think that’s the most important variable in this all. Plus, since I won’t be so stressed, I’d have time to pursue hobbies and things I like doing, rather than having sleepless nights thinking about things I need to do at the office or worrying about how my clients or their families might hate me and blame me for what’s happened to their kid. My health cannot take that kind of a lifestyle anymore. I’d rather be happy and do the things I love.
by Kristine | Apr 18, 2014 | Eternal Student
I must admit, I’m a really bad student when it comes to writing assignments. I always end up leaving it right up till the last minute & then stressing out while writing the bloody paper. Today’s assignment is no different in this arena.
I’ve got an assignment to write on the topic of empowerment, how staff can be empowered in an information service workplace and if empowerment can be a useful HR tool. Truth be told, it probably is a very exciting topic in itself. I just don’t like writing papers on topics like theses & then have to find at least 8 scholarly articles to base my arguments upon. Abstract concepts like this doesn’t sit well with my style of analytical writing or brain. Somehow I just find it very difficult to put pen to paper (so to speak) when trying to explain and argue an abstract point.
As such, my procrastination plan today was:
- Nap
- Write some words
- Watch TV
- Write some more words
- Rinse and repeat till midnight when my essay is due
So far, I’ve fiddled with my computer updating it to Windows 8.1 and tried to fix a glitch where my computer has refused to let me play Minecraft: Attack of the B Team due to something with Java, my graphics card and something called a DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION. Updating everything didn’t even make the damn thing work. Anyway, I digress.
I’m 123 words into my 2000 (+/- 10%) word essay. I’ve got about 7 hours left. I suppose it is about time to actually get started properly…
by Kristine | Apr 17, 2014 | Eternal Student, Musings
As the title suggests, I always have trouble with what I blog & if I blog at all. I constantly struggle with the balance of how much about my life I should publish online versus I want to document my life and the happenings so that when I grow old, I can flip through my blog and have a glimpse of what I was at that particular age. At uni, I thought I’d have more time to blog when I finished uni as I was always either caught up with assignments or desperately trying to finish up my assignments or maintaining my sanity while working. After I graduated, I thought I’d have time to blog as I didn’t have to chase down uni deadlines and be bogged down by how much I have to work to be able to survive. That’s didn’t really change, work took over & became the be all & end all of things. It was as if I didn’t know how to do anything apart from study or work.
5 years post uni and unemployed, you’d think I’d have more time or mojo to blog, but somehow that hasn’t happened. I was always caught up in the notion that there is always a perfect time later down the track to get things down. Eg: I’ll blog after uni as I’d have more time to dedicate to it. Or I’ll wait till such and such month to do something as the weather or whatever variable is perfect for it. It has taken a long time to eventually learn that there are no perfect times to do things. Like the cliched saying goes, time and tide waits for no man. There really isn’t a perfect time to do things, you make the best of the situation you are in and you grab a hold of your dreams tight and get down to it.
Not working has certainly made me mull in my thoughts a bit more and that isn’t always the best thing when you have an imagination as active as mine. I’ve been putting in applications for jobs and just waiting to hear back from things, but the waiting around is driving me up the wall. There is only so many TV shows that I can watch, only so many blogs I can read and only so many times I can go on Facebook before I go bonkers. Thankfully I’ve still got uni, which is keeping me busy enough to focus on the bigger picture and what I want to achieve in life. Although, I still complain about assignments and procrastinate to some level 😛
I am hoping to find some semblance to how much of my life I share online & how much I keep to myself. I don’t think that struggle with ever go away, but as long as I have a say in what I put out & sway more to the conservative side of things, I think I’ll be just fine 🙂
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