Tag Archives: academic

As I look at the watch just going past 22:30, I decide that this is the perfect time to think about Feb 29th 2012. I struggle to remember what I was doing the last time it was Feb 29th. I do however remember, the first time the significance of a leap year was highlighted to me. It seems odd, but it was all the way back in 1996. I remember going to Arrowe Park Primary School in Merseyside and being perplexed by the big fuss the teacher was making about Feb 29th! Gosh, 1996, not really a lifetime ago…but certainly feels like a lifetime ago. Things were so much simpler back then. Albeit up till May 1996, when my dear brother was born!
Anyway, I won’t dwell on the simplicities of childhood. We’re all too fimiliar with them. I wonder if kids who post on this blog today think they’re life is simple…I would think not. They’d probably say that their life is just as complex if not more, than mine! Focusing on today, I woke up on a “working” day at 11:30 in the morning. This is probably horrifying for most who work, but I’m in postgraduate study and am fortunate enough not to have any lectures today. Having spent the last week completing a number of essays and funding grants, it’s fair to say that I’ve been catching up on some much needed sleep.
Usually, I’d wake up with a number of pings on my phone indicating a steady stream of emails that need attending to…but oddly none today. Before heading for the computer and resuming my multilevel stats assignment from the previous night, I took the time to make a proper lunch that wasn’t a sausage roll with £1 caffeine top up. Then the usual social networking checks, and off to work! It would have been nice to report that the assignment was done and dusted, but that’s wishful thinking in my case. Can I class myself an adrenaline junkie for leaving things to the last minute and then submitting them? A question that I’m sure will amuse me for years.
The real essence of today began with a phone call this evening from a dear friend in Glasgow. In some ways, it was a catalyst to a number of socially entrenched interactions. I caught up with a bunch of friends in college and complained about the numerous grants that still need to be written, the inexplicable exhaustion and stress my supervisor causes and the pending essay asking me to comment on social influences that foster children’s undestanding of mind. The ephemeral feeling of complaining, elliciting support and understanding from friends is just marvellous!
From there headed off to start the much needed reading for the aforementioned essay. Relying on computers to pull jounral papers is just a doorway to distraction. No sooner did I start the google searches did my email start going off. The one to highlight was from a supervisor in Glasgow. He is truly responsible for promoting my potential career in academia, and nothing made me happier than him saying it would be nice to have be back in Glasgow. The second time this week, someone in Glasgow missed me. The first time was from another friend who missed me when chosing ice-cream…that probably says more about me than her! Either way, hopefully doors will be opened to Glasgow and my current institution. Choosing between the two, if I’m lucky enough to get the choice, will be difficult!
I suppose my thought for today is about understanding. I said earlier that looking back to primary school days, things seemed simpler. Perhaps it was because the way I understood my friends, teachers and family was simpler. Having grown up somewhat, perhaps my understanding of the various relationships is more complex. I have a feeling that I’ll remember this 29th Feb for a long time as in many ways, the fuss that my teacher made about the 29th Feb 1996 seems more pertinent now than it ever has.