I’m starting to get a bit nervous about the course, wondering whether I’ve taken the right decision in applying for it. I think it’s partly because I’ll be going in at the bottom of the class and I’ll probably be really far behind everyone else to start with. I’m worried about whether I’ll be able to cope, especially with learning Latin which is something I’ve never done before. I also don’t know what subject to do my dissertation on—the paperwork I have from the University seems to make out that I should already have a good idea. The two topics that come to mind are Roman law and Greek democracy, mostly focused around their development and influence on their modern equivalents, but I’m not so sure.
At least my career isn’t depending on what I get in the MA. Obviously I want to do well on the course, though I’m not sure how much of a differentiation there is in grades (I think you can get either an MA or a Distinction, but I’m not sure), but at the same time I’m doing it for enjoyment rather than career prospects. I haven’t decided for sure whether I’d want to continue in academia after the MA, either in the same subject area or something else which interests me.
Annoyingly, I’ve missed out on registering for some of the events next week, mainly because I didn’t get my offer until the last week in August and the booking system locked people out as of this week. Most of the stuff is aimed at people who aren’t from Manchester though, and includes things like trips to the local libraries which isn’t really of interest to me (I could probably lead one of those visits if I had to). Hopefully there will be places still available for the Royal Armouries on Friday, but I’ve already been twice and it’s not exactly difficult to get to on the train. I suspect that they won’t be doing the jousting either, based on the weather we’ve had recently (assuming they still have the jousting, it’s been a long time since I visited the Armouries).
I suppose part of me is getting a bit tetchy about not having something continuous to be working on. I’m doing lots of bits and bobs here and there, especially for Friends of the Earth (the local groups conference is this weekend so I shall be disappearing to Nottingham for a few days and not checking my emails, UA, Rogue Students etc. until I get back), but I’m not working on one particular programme with a long term goal and a fixed endpoint.
Ah well, I’d best get back to reading all these books I have on my desk, hopefully they will help me get more up to speed with the course content before I start to get quizzed on my knowledge.