ONCE UPON A DREAM; On Passing My Exams!!!

Studying - when being a bookworm really pays off...

Today I got the news that I have passed my exams and the latest level of my psychotherapy training!  This means that I am now halfway through the four years of studying required to qualify, with two more academic years to go.  I'm still buzzing from the news and I have a smile like the Cheshire Cat in Wonderland. 

I must confess that I approached the whole thing as something of an academic hoop jumping exercise so I wasn't totally convinced that I would pass to be honest, especially as our last level was so disrupted due to our tutor getting seriously ill a few weeks in and our having to have a supply tutor for about half the course. But somehow it all came together and I passed! I had convinced myself that there must be more to the subject and that I just wasn't getting it and must have been missing something. Apparently not. 

I'm delighted that so many of my fellow students passed too as it means that we can hopefully continue our studies together for the final two years.  I'm not counting my chickens and there is still an interview to pass before progression to the next level, but for now I can relax and enjoy the moment of victory.

It wasn't that long ago (Jan - May) that I was having severe migraines due to the stress of presentations, essays, reports and then the exam itself. Back in May I was exhausted - it hasn't always been easy trying to juggle all the course work and class lectures, along with all my writing commitments and a thyroid illness.  I had deadlines piling up that I had to meet, both from editorial and from class, so it was pretty stressful.  I just tried to keep my long term goal in mind - that one day I'd like to work with the Military, helping soldiers to deal with their stress and battle trauma.  On days when my lazy thyroid was refusing to get out of bed, I forced myself into class by wearing my Black Watch scarf as a reminder of why I'm doing this in the first place...it acted like a talisman and worked so well I recently bought a camouflage ring binder and notebooks 'just in case I pass and go onto the final level' - that must have been a precognitive instinct at work! 

So now I have to start looking to the near future, prepping for the interview a bit and savoring some time out from night school.  It will be a lovely to spend time writing for fun in my free time again, rather than having to work on essays and exam papers.  I can enjoy my freedom, safe in the knowledge that, for this level at least, I did enough to pass and I'm now halfway there. Tonight I'm celebrating a victory for the Bruce :-)

Happy Face!!!