Life outside of work and study has been hectic and, well let’s just say “bumpy” but work has been going exceptionally well. I was offered 10 additional hours per week for 6 weeks. This is going to help my bank balance so of course I said yes. The down side is that the 10 hours looks more like 15 when I think about the extra admin. So it’s 10 hours of Academic learning center (ALC) appointments. If I don’t get 10 students in a week then I fill it out by doing online assignments. I much prefer student appointments so I have FILLED my entire calendar with available slots in the hope that I get 10. So far I have, but I have also got 4 referral students (with regular appointments). The time spent emailing students and setting up those appointments etc does not count. Plus I’ve got a couple of tricky students where I’ve also spent time talking to lecturers. I’ve also got at least a couple of workshops in the evenings which messes up my calendar too! So work has become a little busy.

Then of course essay writing marking has hit! I’ve got some online students and some on campus to mark. I should get them all done within the 2 week turnaround. I have never not met that deadline, but it’s going to be close this time and I might need to do some in my evenings. I’m not highly motivated towards marking which is probably three quarters of the issue.

In other news, did I mention the article with Michelle from South Africa was published? I mean it has been in-press for ages, but it actually came out! I’ve enjoyed updating Orcid and things like my staff profile as well as emailing it to people. It’s open acess so if you want to read it here is the link: https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2716&context=jutlp

I guess the other major event is ethics approval for my PhD. As my supervisor said, it happened just how it was supposed to. The ethics committee asked for some revisions, I did those, then it was accepted. No dramas at all! I then put in the request at CQU and they asked for my Dean’s approval. I have sent them that this morning so any moment now I am expecting official approval. Then I can get the student details from the program manager, Chris, and invite some students to do a pilot! It really feels like things are moving which is great. So indeed ethics ahoy!