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juggling work/college
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey, i am thinking about doing a national diploma in september as i am due to complete my a levels. The problem is the college is about 1-1.30 hour drive each way and i will be there 4 days from nine to five so with travelling on top pretty long days. Also i will need to work all weekend to fund my travelling and running a car as well as having some sort of social life.
Do u think tht the work load will be too high? i dnt want to be stuck on my 1 day off studying all day.
Any1 been in a simialer situation? how do u juggle study and work?
Do u think tht the work load will be too high? i dnt want to be stuck on my 1 day off studying all day.
Any1 been in a simialer situation? how do u juggle study and work?
Post edited by JustV on
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Comments
What you need to ask yourself is whether working so hard is worth the qualification at the end of it.
I'm also working 2/3 days a week and now that the first year of my course is coming to an end it's getting to be a bit of a struggle.
It's hard to fit in work, college and some form of social life. I seem to spend every night working on my assignments at the moment so the social life bit is non-existant.
I think it would be a bit of a push for you to manage to work and do this course if you live so far away. Is there no way that you can live closer to the college?
There are a couple of people on my course which need to work a lot to support their studies and our college is very good about this and allows them quite a bit of time off, as long as they keep up with their assignments and get the notes off other students so maybe the college would be able to help you out there.
For my post grad degree i had to drive an hour each way to university into kent and worked one day a week in north london which was in totally the opposite direction - it was fine really - i just had to be more organised that everyone else - but I also was super lucky because i was working in the field that i eventually wanted to go into. Then in the summer I thought i was being made redundant from my first job so i got another one and then didnt' get made redundant and ended up with 2 jobs and a dissertation to hand in. I'm proud to say that it made me even more organised than everyone else - yes i had to work my socks off but I even managed to get it all completed so for the last weekend whilst everyone else was working their socks off i was out partying at my firends hen night with all my work done and dusted.
So my short answer is yes its possible - other options might be to get a job somewhere on the college campus so you work there in the evenings and then have your weekends free - or work 1 day a week or even take the corse part time.
I've never heard of a national diploma though???
I still work all weekend now as a 2nd year undergrad.
If your not academic then surely its better to go and do something vocational like learning to type and going to get a job.
The point is that i want to be a veterinary nurse and to become one of those i need a placement at a vets, well all the vets i have tried(over 100) want some1 with some past experience or qalifications working with animals-this course would give me what i needed. If after i have done the course i still cant get a placement then i will work full time until i do find 1. The point is that i want a career and dnt want to be stuck in a dead end job tht i dnt enjoy so until iv got what i want im not going to give up.
I agree with everything you've said. I'm doing a national diploma in animal management now and i started it initially because i wanted to be a veterinary nurse and didn't have the qualifications. I messed up school so I didn't get many GCSE results, not because I wasn't clever enough, I just didn't apply myself or whatever. I had limited home schooling so not much GCSE preperation. However despite this I was top student on the first diploma course last year and I'm doing well this year too.
There is a vocational aspect to it because one day a week is at a work placement so it's very different from doing something purely academic such as A-levels.
I agree that getting a vets to accept you is difficult, I know because I tried for my placement last year.
If you need any extra advice on the course or help or want a chat then PM me
x
I think that u are completely right, surely it would be better giving money to those who are going to learn skills for future jobs aswell as those who are just gaining certificates and degrees. The job i want to do is fairly low paid so going through a degree wouldnt be worth it for me, i really am not bothered about the pay but i dont want to be repaying a masive loan after.