It is September, my friends! And the website for my MA Translation course will open on September 10.
This does not mean that the university I am now studying at hasn't already started with 'preparatory measures'. By that, I mean information on postgraduate study in general, not specific about my course.
This week, a PG Summer EAP program started. Please do not aks me for the abbreviation, I have no clue what 'EAP' stands for. But this preparatory course starts with weekly (recorded) online sessions covering topics such as structuring PG study, writing assignments, coping with the work load, and so on.
I am amazed that this is already much more structured than what I did at Portsmouth, while not being to overwhelming or outright a PITA. This week, we got information on keeping a study record of the skills we need to finish our studies and become employable, as well as the needs we have at the start of the course.
We've also been given a link regrading assignment writing, and I find the material really good. I am not studying in York, if you wonder, but I am still happy the tutors are sharing this with us.
At the moment, I feel more hopeful and enthusiastic with this MA than I was at Portsmouth. What I am experiencing now is structure provided by the university, rather than being expected to go the way alone.
I realize that postgraduate study requires students to be more independent, while undergraduate study involved more guidance. I am all for less guidance and more independence in my studies.
In my opinion, however, this also requires that the structures and people the university has put in place take their responsibilities seriously and act upon them.
At Portsmouth, my impression was that tasks and duties among staff had not been properly assigned, so structure and reliability suffered. Thinking of the last project I basically failed at Porstmouth--the Translation Project--this could have been avoided if the assigned tutor had responded on time and provided the necessary information I did not have. It was the university's own rule that the information be given to me by the tutor, and since I did not receive it, it was basically impossible for me to finish the course.
By the way, the university I am currently at is The Open University (my alma mater). ;)