Robyn’s Nest

This picture (click here) represents how I feel at the moment - down to a tee. April has been hell and the frustration at having to put my life on hold while I write two 3,000 word essays is building up. I may well explode at some point.

I’ve swapped a few emails with some of the girls on my course and they’re all feeling the same - that if they hear the words “dominant coalition” or “propaganda” one more time they will lose the will to live.

And it’s funny how things like washing up, vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom suddenly become appealing tasks when the laptop and PR Handbook are sitting on the table, waiting to be put into action. I would rather do anything than sit down and get my essays done.

The good news is I’m pretty much there, they just need tidying up. I have no idea if they’re any good and will just have to hope and prey they make the grade - I’m not looking for a distinction or even a merit. A simple pass will do just fine.

I’ve just taken a couple of days off work to get cracking with these wordy wonders and I would honestly rather have been at work. Wednesday was a day of torture with fine tuning diploma essay number one straddled by a visit to the dentist and an appointment with the contact lens chap. The good news? I have sparkly white teeth and can see to the end of the road. The bad news? I am brain dead.

So, here’s to another weekend of misery. I’m working tomorrow (no pretty Naval pilots to look at this time either, boo hoo!) and Sunday will be dedicated, in its entirety, to finishing these damn essays.

On the flip side, this time next week my essays will have been handed in to the relevant bods at London Met Uni and it’ll be out of my hands. My life starts again next Friday.

Okay, so the hell has begun. My CIPR CRT (Critial Reasoning Test) questions were issued on Friday and I have less that one month to knock out two 3,000 words essays on public relations stuff. Shit!

Yes, I may have been appointed deputy editor of two newspapers when I was 21 and yes, I was in the editor’s chair aged 25. But, aged 28, I still remain as academic as a goldfish.

The practical stuff I can do. The theoretical concepts bullshit I cannot. The CIPR Diploma course has helped me a lot though - I can talk the lingo a bit better now and I’ve learned a lot about people’s experiences in PR, working in different environments and tackling different issues. But the theory stuff, looking at models and evaluating and critisising theorists is beyond me. And, quite frankly, incredibly boring.

So, I am giving up my spare time in April (within reason - my sporting activities will remain permanent diary entries) to research and write these damned essays. I know it will be worth it if (when??) I pass and I certainly don’t want to tackle it a second time. So it’s important. But it’s a case of the more I know I have to do something the less I want to do it.

Anyway, I’m gonna try and get my head down. Saturday was spent at a CIPR tutorial which was half helpful, half a waste of time - plus I got drenched walking to Euston choo choo station - and yesterday I almost sent myself to sleep reading The PR Handbook before pulling on my trainers and kicking some arse on the volleyball court.

A girl at work did the CIPR Diploma last year and it concerns me slightly that she took two weeks of annual leave to dedicate to her essays. I’m reluctant to give up my holiday entitlement for this academia and my work commitments won’t allow it. So, if by April 25 - when I aim to hand in my scribblings - I look like I haven’t slept for three weeks, it’ll be down to the stinky study. Wish me luck.

Today is the last day of March which means tomorrow will be April. No flies on me, eh! As much as I’m glad the clocks have gone forward and we’ll get lighter nights, I’m not looking foward to April; it’s gonna be a long month.

Why? Well, my dreaded CRT will be issued this Friday - the first essay/exam type thing as part of my CIPR Diploma and it means I need to pull my finger out and do some work. It means dedicating any free time I have to reading, studying, revising, researching - what ever you want to call it - so I actually know what I’m writing about.

This will be made increasingly difficult by the fact that three out of four Saturdays in April are taken up with work commitments. Well, the first one is my CIPR tutorial at the London Met Uni, then I have to interview some Naval pilots at a degree ceremony at The Barbican the following Saturday and then attend a degree ceremony in Torquay the Saturday after that. 

Add these work commitments and study/essay writing - I have less than a month to complete two essays and send them off - with the fact that I’ve launched my pre-summer fitness campaign and already I’m starting to loathe April.

If I want to look like a goddess on the beach this summer I need to start working on the old health and fitness routine now. I started this yesterday with a run (well, it was more like a long walk with a short run in the middle), a stint on the cross trainer and a few weights and sit-ups. I now have a huge blister on my heel and will no doubt hobble around the korfball court tonight.

So, April is gonna be a long month and one where fun things will have to take a backseat while I concentrate on work and study, with a bit of fitness in between. But it’s only one month and when May comes round it’ll be time to enjoy myself - or reward myself, even, for all my hard work.