This week, i’ve sat 3 exams which means i’ve just 2 left. They’ve gone reasonably well so far. I’ve done more than enough to pass and i reckon i’m on course for a 2.1. I just have to keep that trend up for 4 more hours…
Service Orientated Architecture
One of my weaker subjects. It’s all theory / planning / architecture about how to build web services and why we need to build them etc… a bit like ‘cloud computing’ in that it’s too theoretical and waffly for my liking. I prefer to plan things with a view to building them. Planning things for the sake of planning or planning knowing plans will never be put in to place is pretty demotivating. I did ok on the CA side of things and I did enough to pass the exam itself but not much more. I’ll give myself 57% in this subject on average.
Entrepreneurship
Probably my strongest subject. I had 39/50 in CA marks going in to this exam. That was for a group business plan & presentation. The exam itself was open book, plus it’s a subject i genuinely like so i should end up with an average of at least 70% in this one… if only all subjects were so easy 🙂
Voice & Data Integration
Again i did well in the CA with this subject. It’s one of my least favourite subjects however because it’s very technical and something I have no real interest in. It’s a ‘good to know’ subject in that we’ve learned how to set up VOIP phone systems and get them all talking with each other but that’s not an area that excites me. The exam itself went pretty well i thought so i’ll guesstimate an average of 67% in this subject.
Dissertation
I spoke about this last week and said i found it difficult to mark myself but for the sake of making up the numbers, i’ll go with a solid 65%. The presentation went well and the dissertation itself was fairly comprehensive. Not enough to change the world, but enough to pick up decent marks.
I then have two more exams to complete next week so it’s difficult to mark myself based on exams i haven’t sat yet but i’ll attempt to anyway for the sake of coming up with an overall estimated mark…
IT Systems Management
This is black and white stuff. A lot of learning off required, mixed with common sense. IT hat comes off for this one, management & business hat must go on. CA marks weren’t bad in this one and i’m very confident i’ll pass and can stumble through a paper even if i don’t know the answers. I have monday & tuesday morning to prepare for this one so i should be ready for it and hopefully hit the 70% mark, which is the aim in all subjects.
Financial Management
a.k.a ACCOUNTING. I’ve no idea why this subject is on our course because it’s a complete misfit compared to the rest. Yes financial control is important but it’s completely non IT related and no effort was ever made to relate it to our course / subject so it’s just sort of ‘sitting there’, adjacent to all other subjects in everyone’s minds. Still, this is a numbers game and it’s worth as much as all of our other subjects so it can’t just be ignored and swept under the carpet.
CA marks were actually high enough in this one for me (20 out of 30) but with 70% still left up for grabs, it’s our most important exam on paper and it’s also the final exam. I’ll need to work hard at this one but i’m in no real danger of failing it. I’ll guesstimate a mark of 60%.
Bottom Line
If my predictions and guesstimates turn out to be right, i’ll average about 65% this semester. Add that to the 63% i averaged last semester and i’ll end up with a final average mark of about 64%. Between 60% and 70% is a 2.1, so i’m on course for a solid 2.1. The results will come out in mid-June.
This time next week
This day next week i’ll be heading to Bosnia & Herzegovina for a weeks holidays. I’ll be offline for a full week or so but i’ll probably have thousands of photos & some video when i come back to make up for my absence. It will be the start of June before i decide on any ‘plans’ for work. If i were to look for a job, realistically i’d have to be looking at Dublin or Belfast. Something in SEO or Social Media would probably play to my strengths. The only problem with that is i’d have one hell of a commute.
I’m used to driving for about an hour to and from college, but doubling that (if i were to look at Dublin) would take a lot out of me, plus it would be a huge waste of time too. Long term that wouldn’t be sustainable so i’d have to move. If i were moving at all, i’d be thinking well why don’t i just move to London… but that would be me thinking about me which isn’t taking anything or anyone else in to account.
Other options would be to freelance it or start a business. Of course i could do a masters too but i’d prefer to work first because i don’t think i’d appreciate it or put in as much effort as i could do if i were hungry enough. No matter what i decide to do, i won’t be idle.
I’ve two big projects to work on this summer and either one of those could turn in to a business, plus i’ve got theleavingcert.com and more plans for it. That keeps growing too despite the fact i put in very little time & effort in to it.
More photos, more video, more blogging, more projects… you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot more from me after June regardless of what i end up doing because i’ll have much more time on my hands. The most important thing for me is to protect my creativity and channel it properly. Decisions will be based upon that.