I need more better things to do

[beccaelizabeth]

I would like to do more reading about history.
I don't think I would like to go get a history degree though.
That would involve being surrounded by Many Humans every week for a minimum of six years.
But I have met me and know my ability to stick with studying without that weekly nudge is... minimal.
Logically I could join an online thing, but I don't know what online thing, or how to join, or if that would work, or what even the words are this year.

Even if I wanted to go get another degree, I have used up the funding getting my first degree. Which is fair, don't get me wrong, I paid a bit and the government paid a bunch and that filled up a decade nicely.
But that means college now? Would cost a bit more than £7K for a masters and £9K *per year* for a degree.
Which is a ridiculous amount of money.

If I studied really slowly I could sustainably afford a unit at a time?
If I spent what is meant to be a mortgage deposit I could... still very much not buy a whole degree.

Also I don't want to, because the bit of paper at the end would be the second one of what I already got, assessment is stressful, and undergrads seem mostly to be people who are mostly bored but didn't think of anything better to do.

I mean I was, but still, it was ridiculously difficult to start a conversation on the topics we were all spending years on, and why go meet humans if they'll stare at you and change the subject and talk about their kids or something?

... I'm bad at humans.


But I looked at the UEA website and their history degrees have many interesting topic titles for many units.


Maybe I can get the reading lists for the interesting modules.
Maybe the UEA library would know them. Or recommend me a good start anyways.



It is boring not studying but it was boring and expensive studying so I need a better in between.

Which was why it was always the plan to get a uea library card and go up there on the regular.

But instead I didn't leave the house for three years and only got as far as the shopping for one year.

... in four years I could have a masters or most of a ba again...
*sigh*


But then what is the point if the only thing I can think to do after the degree is go do more reading.

I mean, I had other plans, involving doing more writing, but this too turned out not to happen.



I am however getting really close to achieving my redcorating goals, and then I will have both a desk under the bookshelves and a window to stare out of, which are clearly the important parts of getting things done.


... I liked much better my earlier plans, with being much closer to the studying places, but those didn't work, for loooooooong, so, bookshelf and a view of a gravel drive and a brick wall it shall be.




Whatever I study though I shall still feel like it is just another way to fail at writing.

*sigh*

:eyeroll:

Comments

[ex_peasant441]

You should check out the Open University. They are a proper university with very highly respected courses, but designed for non-regular students, especially people who cannot physically get to a university to study. The fee for an undergraduate degree is between £1,500 and £2,500, but paid a bit at a time, and you can take as many years as you need to complete. They also do postgraduate degrees and stand-alone courses not part of a degree.

My mother got her degree with them. I did a creative writing course with them a few years ago - it was very good, and all online.

[beccaelizabeth]

OU is a good idea

but their history course only goes back to 1500, except for one module on the Roman Empire, thus neatly skipping the 1500 years I wanted to read about.

Also their modules are huge.
I'm sure 'the arts past and present' is a great way to see a bazillion topics, but I wanted to zoom in a bit more.

[ex_peasant441]

Seeing your latest post: you maybe should look at historical geography, not history. Fewer wars, more trade.

[beccaelizabeth]

new keywords, shiny

... at uea it means many the same units look interesting in a geography course, but there's fieldwork and a math requirement. uea does 'landscape history' which seems interesting.

uea does many things as seems interesting if i just went there...

[ex_peasant441]

If you don't do a formal course, would you be able to get a UEA library card? Access to a proper academic library makes all the difference to self education. What you really need is access to the academic journals. You can get a very limited number for free on JSTOR, but the limits soon become very frustrating.