Successes, Failures and New Beginnings

Hi everyone!

So, firstly...massive apologies for the long silence. The reason I haven't posted in so long is because:

a.) The weather's been amazing,
b.) I've been a busy little bee, and
c.) I've been busy GRADUATING!

Chose this photo cos it's like a game of Where's Wally. Copyright Keith Morris.

Yup, last week I officially received my BA (Hons.) in Drama & Theatre Studies, which was all very exciting. It was fantastic to celebrate an amazing 3 years of life in a seaside town which completely captured my heart and soul. I already miss it, but I have a feeling this is not the end of my relationship with Aber. I will definitely be back-as alumni, a tourist and perhaps even as a resident. Who knows what the future may hold?!

One thing that I wasn't expecting about graduation, however, was how emotional the whole experience was. I thought I'd already said my goodbyes to student life here; and had done enough sobbing to last a lifetime. But it turned out there was still a little more water left in the barrel, and I consequently found myself bawling throughout most of the graduation ceremony. That may have well been the Vice President, Gwefyl Pierce Jones's fault, though...her speech was lovely and was virtually built to increase Kleenex sales! She was also a babe for quoting the amazing Maya Angelou, who once said the following...

'Your destiny is to find the courage to flesh out the great dreams. To dare to love, to dare to care, to dare to be significant and to admit it. Not by the things you own, or the positions you hold, but by the life you live.'

I was a blubbering snotty mess after she'd quoted that. But I'm going to stick the quote up on my wall, and use it by a motto to live by; especially at this time that feels like so much like a new beginning. 

Anyway, away from the floaty cloud of graduation and onto what has recently become the slightly stormy cloud of the TEFL. This is because, in amidst all the excitement and success, I've failed a couple of TEFL assignments recently. To be honest, I was slightly surprised. Up until now, TEFL has been a bit of a breeze really-I've had a couple of tricky moments, but I've always got through them. I certainly wasn't expecting to fail anything. 

But it's actually acted as a really effective wake-up call. Looking back, I was definitely getting complacent and not respecting the qualification (tip: doing a Unit Quiz whilst sunbathing might sound a good deal, but it's not the one). I've realised that if I want to do well at this, I need to keep my degree-level diligence up. Which, granted, is bloody impossible after just graduating, but I'm at least going to study in a quiet room, sitting at a desk, from now on. My future potential students deserve that much; and, as Angelou says so beautifully, I should 'dare to care' about them. 

Anyway-congratulations to everyone who's just graduated; whether on my course or otherwise. I know that great adventures await every single one of us in the Class of 2014-if we dare to be significant, and to admit it. 

Hope xx