Exams are over! Hurray! I wrote the monumental 5 (5!!!) hour exam on research design on Monday (and still ran out of time), and wrote stats yesterday. The less said about stats the better – it took me 45 minutes to figure out which statistical analysis to use (fortunately, I seem to have been correct in doing an ANCOVA) and I got flustered. I feel that I could’ve done so much better. Grumble grumble…
Since it was our last exam, our class decided to do something afterwards to celebrate. This was rather unusual, as we’ve been a class for the last 6 months, and this was the first time anyone had suggested that we do anything more *social* than going to buy coffee in the Matrix. But, on Thursday night, I got a Facebook invitation to join the rest of the psychology Honours class at Manhattan on Saturday night (needless to say, I am not going to be accepting this invite). There was also an invitation for drinks at Bowls Club after the exam itself on the Friday afternoon. So, after the exam, a chat to Kirstan and a visit to Luke and Helen’s lab for lunch, I drove off to Bowls Club. I managed to arrive about an hour and a half after everyone else, thanks to my lunch-time lab visit, but this was actually a good thing, because by that stage, everyone had mellowed out after the exam and no one was interested in discussing what anyone else had said about post hoc testing or effect sizes. The rest of the afternoon was thus spent sitting in the sun, with Claire, Taryn, Daniel, Charles, Dani, Amy, Haley and Granville, and discussing our holiday plans. It was actually really nice to see everyone in a different context, generally with a glass of very cheap, very sweet white wine or a beer in hand, enjoying our lack of academic commitments! The presence of a couple of my engineering friends at the next table was also a pleasant surprise – not least because it meant that I could remind them of my birthday party on Tuesday! I actually ended up staying until about 4:30, discussing very arbitrary things with Granville, as he and I are wont to do. And so, I declare my first outing to Bowls Club to be a success – and I can finally tick it off my “Twenty Firsts” list.
I am now officially on holiday until the second or third week of July. I really would like to make some more progress with my research project, but my options are somewhat limited because my sample is composed of students, who are all on holiday! It’s a little frustrating, but I have quite a lot of other stuff to keep me busy! As such, here is my holiday “to do” list:
- paint. Luke bought me oil paints for Christmas and I am dying to use them!
- go to Pretoria. I have to attend a 3 day workshop for Unisa in Pretoria for an extra course I’m doing through them. I have my passport ready.
- catch up on my reading – and by this, I mean reading about something other than brains
- figure out how to run the tests that I’m using for my research project, and find people to help me test my sample.
- make some more progress on the “Twenty Firsts” list. In fact, I actually have to complete it these holidays!
- sort out my Masters application forms. Sigh…
- watch the rest of the “X Files” DVD’s.
- find black, knee-length, not-leather boots, in a size 4 or 5. Pretty please?
- start running again. And maybe start yoga again too.
Drat. I am sure that there were more things that I wanted to do, but I can’t remember what they were now! Updates will follow though, if and when I remember! Have a good weekend - stay warm!
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