...But not quite 'go'.
It is a week since my induction and I don't feel entirely inducted, as yet.
The start of my course has been less of an academic dream and more of an administrative nightmare. Registration, passwords, logging on to a new system; all have been problematic, tiresome and frustrating. The uncollected emails have been piling up as I busy myself with the mundane chores of adjusting once more to distance learning. With the patient support of the university IT department I have finally managed to access much of what I need today, but I've missed the first forum readings, haven't quite got myself going in the way that I had imagined, and feel generally not part of things - not least because I am one of only two part-time students beginning at the same time as a much larger group of full-time researchers.
Am I disheartened? Not yet. Because as soon as I talk to anyone (and I mean, anyone) who will listen on the subject of my research, I'm off. Passionate, enthusiastic, driven - as perhaps only the naive, wide-eyed beginner can be. Galloping off on my hobby horse with the potential to be a party bore (assuming I am not already, which, frankly, is something of a hypothetical leap. It's already a long time since I've been to a party - how would I know?)
The summer was reading, reading, reading and then a little more - but with the benefit of hindsight - all of one week of it, I would have got more 'administratively' prepared than I am currently, would have sorted the registration hiccups, would have already invested in some software to support my writing. I have also spent an eye-watering amount of money on books, and as the costs mount up I realise that the other thing I should have done is save a little more.
And all this has taken place during the whirlwind that is the first three weeks of a new school year, alongside the open evenings, twilight INSET, Year 11 tracking demands, November exam entries and everything else that as an English HOD I need to do. Somehow I have to read and write and think amidst all this. What have I done?
I'm not entirely sure. And so it seems like a good idea to launch a new blog at the same time.
