Termly progress...

Yesterday I submitted my termly progress report...

My first term in Oxford was a strange time. Everyone seemed to be better prepared. Despite reassurances that others were feeling just as insecure, I didn't immediately feel better about being often befuddled. To make matters worse, Anglo-Saxon literature depressed me, and thinking about having to read the Exeter Book made me cry. I found the amount of time I had to devote to my work to be frankly inhumane (though I am not sure if this is because I'm studying at Oxford, or because I had forgotten during my year out how hard students actually have to work). It got to the point that every time I walked into the library I heard the opening lines of All Along the Watchtower in my head. The lack of computing resources both at college and the Bodleian made things worse. On the plus side I had very enjoyable sessions for my C course with Dr. Mapstone, which I found both intellectually stimulating and immensely amusing, because I was given the option of focusing on only the things I was interested in (humorous literature in Older Scots). Another good thing is that I found the MCR at Keble to be very sociable and supportive. I don't think I've ever made so many friends in such a short measure of time. Once I got used to the amount of work and stopped comparing myself to others (as well as coming to terms with the fact that I may only get a pass rather than a distinction) I began to enjoy myself much more. Although I have not yet received the results of my MT assessment I am on the whole happy with what I turned in (that said, I didn't have the guts to look at it again after I turned it in). Now I am genuinely enjoying my time here, and also, in a way, my work. I've found that the trick is to focus on those things that interest me, and to do only what is required of me to scrape by in regards to what does not interest me. I think Hilary is probably the busiest of my three terms so I am mildly surprised that I do not seem to be quite so stressed out as some others. I attribute this to the fact that I have given up on trying to do everything, though I do often wonder if I am doing enough.