{"id":626,"date":"2017-10-10T15:51:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T14:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/?p=626"},"modified":"2018-12-04T11:00:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T11:00:17","slug":"studying-alongside-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/2017\/10\/10\/studying-alongside-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Studying alongside work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-625 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/Computer-study.jpg\" alt=\"Image showing a person studying\" width=\"590\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/Computer-study.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/Computer-study-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/Computer-study-323x215.jpg 323w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/>This time last year, I was just about to start studying with a rival university I can't possibly mention...\u00a0 Oh ok, go on then!\u00a0 I was about to start a 30 credit unit in Website Technologies with the Open University.\u00a0 I didn't launch straight into it, I thought about it for a good 12 months but got to the point where I couldn't embarrass\u00a0myself\u00a0by mentioning it in another SDPR meeting without actually showing I was willing to commit- so it was time.<\/p>\n<p>A large part of my hesitation to study was the cost - tuition fees as we know, are expensive.\u00a0 There was also the fear of failure and imposter syndrome.\u00a0 Finally, there was the issue of time I would need to study, which I wasn't really that bothered by although it turned out to be the hardest aspect (spoiler!).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-624 size-medium alignright\" style=\"float: left;margin: 0 1em 0 0.6em\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/fear-300x255.jpg\" alt=\"Image of Rosie (the author) looking scared\" width=\"300\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/fear-300x255.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/fear-253x215.jpg 253w, https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2017\/10\/fear.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u00a0So, I\u00a0got around the fee issue by applying for funding through the Faculty budget.\u00a0 I was hoping that I would get a percentage paid for but was exceptionally lucky due to some funding from another pot being available and I had the whole thing paid for by the faculty.\u00a0 Lucky right?!<\/p>\n<p>Yes, it was certainly wonderful to feel I had the backing from the faculty although it did substantially increase my fear of failure.\u00a0 I would be letting others down in addition to myself.\u00a0 I do like an incentive though.<\/p>\n<p>So the reality was that it was a lot more work than I was anticipating.\u00a0 I won't lie, it was VERY stressful at times to study alongside a full-time job and other commitments.\u00a0 But there were so many positive outcomes that it was 100% worth it.\u00a0 Here are some of those:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I learnt loads of new skills and expanded my mind<\/li>\n<li>I reinforced some information that I thought I might know<\/li>\n<li>I had a focus and a goal<\/li>\n<li>My\u00a0marks were far better than my BA grades- I read the marking criteria!<\/li>\n<li>I got to have a peek at the OU's VLE (Moodle equivalent)<\/li>\n<li>I felt confidence through learning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My advice is to stop hesitating if you want to learn something new.\u00a0 Ask for available funding- I can't guarantee that you'll get it, but if you never ask you definitely won't.\u00a0 Be honest with yourself about the time you need and prepare your loved ones for this- you will need their support!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This time last year, I was just about to start studying with a rival university I can't possibly mention...\u00a0 Oh ok, go on then!\u00a0 I was about to start a 30 credit unit in Website Technologies with the Open University.\u00a0...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":697,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[153,2,102,51,78,31,53],"class_list":["post-626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faculty-of-engineering-design-staff-experiences","tag-cpd","tag-faculty-of-engineering-design","tag-faculty-student-centre","tag-learning","tag-study","tag-training","tag-website"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/fedstaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}