Getting Started

Great to meet so many of you during the Welcome skypes over the weekend. 

As we all get settled into the first week of term; finding your space for study is really important. Figuring out when and where the BA is part of your life to that your practice and your study becoming intertwined.This is essential in a programme which is about your Professional Practice. As you move through the first couple of weeks, reading through module handbooks, beginning to dig into something from the reading list and becoming more conscious perhaps of your own practice as a 'thing', it is important to remind yourself to take the time to listen to your own rhythms, observe your own patterns and be aware of your own learning processes. 

Whilst this week's date marks the 'term start date' on our calendars it is important to recognise that starting something isn't usually as quick as a calendar date suggests.  

Starting out for the first time, or starting back to re-join something after a break can mean a re-balance of patterns, schedules, spaces and places...finding how study is integrated / (re) integrated into your work/life patterns.  We think it is important that you begin to find some kind of 'home' for your study, this might be clearing a physical space in your house to work in, finding a coffee shop that has a good vibe to you to be able to work there, checking out libraries or other spaces that may feel good to you.  

 

Looking at your schedules...it may be that you are able to block out one day per week that you ring as your 'BA day', it may not...You may prefer to set aside an hour each morning / an hour each evening and decide that you'll dedicate that to your studies.  You may see already that you have a particularly busy period next month and so no you will not be able to dedicate time to your studies then, but can free-up some time either side of that period. Whatever the pattern, whatever works is individual to you, and important for you to recognise and commit to, completing your Study Plan helps with this.  Adesola and I are pretty flexible with our work/life patterns too and so we can work with you in terms of appointments for one-to-one Skype calls, responding to emails etc, BUT... this is where the blogs are a great way of communicating...you can blog whenever you feel like it...2am, 6am... and others will engage with this when they feel like it, quite possibly in a different time-zone altogether! The blogs are a great week 1 activity to get you connected with those on this BAPP journey with you...get to know your support network right now!

So take this week to observe your patterns, re-jig a little space where needed, feel comfortable in your study environment, locate yourself within the university systems (UniHub / My learning / handbooks).

I'd like to leave you 'starting' with a note on beginning from Musician/philosopher Gary Peters;

'The beginning is not the start of the work but the choice of a way into that which has certainly already started'.

 The study is your professional practice...start finding your way in!