An Honours meeting

Today was a great day, I had a meeting with my Honours supervisor to discuss and prepare what I will be doing for this year and ultimately what my thesis will be about.  Exciting stuff indeed =)

It also helps to have the best Honours supervisor ever, Sophie!  A supervisor is basically a member of the faculty who will work with you throughout the year, offering the usual like advice, tips and general collaboration.  I am very grateful to have her as she really knows her stuff, not to mention that she is damn awesome =)

For all who are out of the loop (yes my life is that exciting it requires it's own loop =P), I graduated from my University degree last year and have decided to go for Honours.  Hmm, but I guess that may be different to other counties, I am pretty sure Honours is the equivalent to a Masters degree elsewhere... but don't quote me on that.

Honours goes for an extra year and is counted as post-graduate study.  The way it goes is 3 years of study for a Bachelor degree, 4 years for Bachelor with Honours/Masters degree (there is a slight difference between the two) and then anywhere from 7 to 9 for a PhD (aka Doctorate) .  But again, don't quote me, the whole system is rather confusing and contradictory but I am confident it is the general idea at least =)

I decided to stay an extra year for a considerable amount of reasons, it was definitely not a decision taken lightly as choices now will affect my future drastically.

To begin with (but not a dominant factor) was that I really enjoyed my course from start to finish.  While we all have those moments and classes that suck the very life force from you, not to mention teaches that can have the same effect (it is hell on earth when the two are combined!), overall I enjoyed by far the majority of my time spent there.  This includes the teachers, students, subjects, topics and the work (both the practical and the theory), I found it rewarding, challenging (but not unreasonable) and at times a lot of fun.

Secondly is that I always put a lot of emphasis and thought on where I want to be in the future.  I have always had ambitions to make it big, live large and have no regrets when I turn 30 and look back at what I have previously done with my life.  Now when I say that, what may spring to mind are ambitions such as 'become a millionaire before turning 25, live in New York and own a boat'.  While that would be nice don't get me wrong lol, I have not set my sights that high, not at all (although I do plan to move to New York when I can).  I dream of smaller goals (that mean a lot to me) such as a job where I can travel, one where I can strive to rise a few ranks, one that I can be proud of.  Alas, jobs like these are hard to come by and are even harder to obtain, so a curriculum vitae with 'Graduated with a Bachelor of Information Technology with Honours' printed under education is another step to put myself a head above the rest.

Lastly and arguably most importantly (to me at least) is that, while I have finished a 3 year degree only a few months ago, I came out the end feeling that I hadn't learned as much as I should of.  I have expressed this concern to quite a few people (even fellow graduates) and everyone has assured me it is normal and not to worry.  My attempts to quell these thoughts however haven't left me entirely convinced that this is indeed completely normal, so I am hoping an extra year of both work and study will leave me feeling much more confident and satisfied in my abilities.

Regardless of my reasons, what have I got to lose?

Doing Honours is slightly different to a Bachelor degree in that your first semester consists of 4 subjects from the Masters degree (confusing I know, stay with me), with your second semester dedicated to your thesis.  A thesis with my understanding is a researched discussion about a set topic (usually related to your field of interest) detailing a question, theory or hypothesis with the aim to, in detail and backed by creditable research and evidence (either of your own accord or from reliable sources), come to a conclusion which may be a final answer or merely a suitable summary of your findings.

In other words, crap on for about 80 pages about a topic of your choosing =P  My apologies, I was practicing my 'thesis voice' lol.

It is rather exciting although could sound boring to most, but imagine having a finished piece of work of that magnitude complete, with the possibility for it to get published in a Journal for the world to see =)  That is something I will be striving for.

One last perk I will mention before I bore you no more.  As apart as being an Honours student, there is also the possibility of being a lecturer for some classes... how cool!  But equally scary at the same time..!  I was actually day dreaming about being a lecturer the other day but didn't know Honour students have the opportunity to do so.  It would be directly related to my field so technically I should know what I am going on about, and it will be for first year students which should make it easier even more so... plus it would look great on my resume'.  Hmm, think I could ramble on for an hour to some first years?  I seem to ramble pretty well on here lol.  Ok, I will suck in my nerves, I have decided I am going to do it =)

A huge year ahead, wish me luck!