It’s not quite a month since we came back to college from our Christmas break, too early you might say to be thinking about our summer break.
The Christmas break was nearly a month long and I found myself slipping back into old habits very quickly. Lying in bed until midday and then just watching tv for the rest of the day, hardly venturing out of the door.
Towards the end of the holiday I found myself starting to feel the onset of my anxiety once again, albeit very mild. The butterflies in the stomach were there none the less!
We have a couple of short breaks, a week, and then a fortnight break in the next few months, but in just over 3 months we break up for summer, a break lasting almost 5 months.
I know in previous blogs I’ve spoken about my plans for my long term future, but I also need to address my short term plans as well, after all what chance do my long term plans have if I can’t complete the course due to illness.
There are several issues I need to think about:
- The need to earn money to pay bills and make my second year less stressful.
- The importance of keeping my routine that I have obviously benefitted from over the first term.
- And of course the information is coming thick and fast at the moment, how much would I retain doing nothing course related for nearly 5 months?
My ideal scenario was to have 4 to 6 small websites to design over summer, and spend the break at my brothers apartments in Spain to complete them. Just venturing home to collect money and visit my 2 boys, maybe taking them back with me for a holiday.
This could be quite achievable, but how much do I trust myself to stick to a routine and complete the tasks in hand. Or do I start looking round now and find a little design company where I can spend the summer working in a professional environment, and of course have no choice but to follow a routine.
I know which I’d prefer to do, and I do have a tendency to work better when in Spain (it’s an extremely stress free environment), but I would welcome any advice anyone would like to offer on this subject.
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February 1, 2010 at 8:42 pm |
Speaking from experience, it is completely better coming back to the second year having ‘kept your hand in’ over the summer break.
I really don’t know where I would have been now had I not had a couple of freelance projects and found the job.
I think even if you can’t find the work you can always practice, one thing I do is try and redesign things for businesses or clubs in the local area that need improving. Then when the time comes you could always take them in and see what they say.
It gets you some practice without the pressure of a live job and might even make you some money in the end!
February 2, 2010 at 1:23 am |
Thanks Tim, I know I’d like to get a few projects and go to my brothers place in Spain for a few months, but being realistic I might not pull that off.
Now you’ve given me a few more options that I could do even if I take any type of job.
Thanks for the comment, and thanks for reading, I don’t know where you find the time.
February 2, 2010 at 5:40 pm |
I missed one week of HTML and CSS last week and when I came in today I couldn’t seem to rememebre the first thing! So, I’d pretty much ditto what Tim said; even if you don’t have any paid work to do it’s probably going to be a good idea to be doing something – just to make sure that everything you’ve learnt stays fresh in your mind.
February 2, 2010 at 5:54 pm |
Cheers mate, and thanks for the comment.