School

And so, the first week of my final school year has begun. A bittersweet moment.

I am feeling the stress of third year. And it's so ironic because all I've been to so far is one lecture. Well, that and a talk about our dissertation. It was really the dissertation that kills.

I was actually shocked that not everyone has thought of a title/topic already (the exchange students are excused :D). I'd set my heart on a topic a little less than two years ago, only wavering slightly last year before making a firm decision to stick to it. This summer I'd mapped out a general plan for my dissertation and written out potential topics I might want to put into it, which I'd discuss with my supervisor. And you know what? That's already half of what's due in December: the proposal. It's essentially a summary of everything I'm going to put into the dissertation, divided by chapters.

I'm thinking I can do about a third of the whole thing this term with the books I have, then go home for Christmas and spend some time in Ma's office and the National Library looking for records or something. Then, once I've collected all my data, I can spend my short holiday after the January exams doing another third of it at least, and the other third can wait till after I've consulted my supervisor to make sure what I've done is alright so far.

I also have to think about whether or not I'm doing the short dissertation (min. 7,500 words, max 10,000 words) or the long one (min 20,000 words, max 25,000 words). I've heard that the long one is really difficult and is already a quarter of a PhD dissertation. It does allow me to take one less elective, but is it really worth that much trouble? No, I think I'd rather take 5 electives.

Speaking of electives, I'm having trouble trying to decide which ones to take. I'm definitely taking "International Business Strategy" and "Management Problem Solving" this term. Next term, I'm all set for "IT for Business II" and "Emerging Markets". I still have to pick one more, and it's between "Virtual Organisations" this term, and "European Business Seminar" or "Advanced Strategic Management" next term. There is also "Advertising", "Arts and Antiques Markets" and "New Technologies in Marketing" next term, but I don't want the first two (unless it's all about kimono hahaha) and am not sure of the second.

A friend of mine mentioned that it would be better to take two this term and three next term because we have two core modules this term and only one next term. Maybe she's right, because I still need to study for the January exams as they're part of the final mark.

*sighs* Which should I pick? The deadline is next Friday....

*groans* I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Thanks to the way I've set up my own timetable, I'll have 6 hours of classes back-to-back! It's like in school all over again. I guess I better go to sleep soon then.

Liss> Haha, yeah I know that feeling soooo well! Funny thing is it hit everyone in Concord really hard, but because I had my crying spree early on in the term, I was fine at the end of the year :P Funny, innit?

Ling> But it's expensive to fly back and forth! And I was already paying rent anyway, so I might as well have just stayed here. Oooooh what didja eat??