MY STEVENSON EXPERIENCE
To begin with my motivation for doing the course was the opportunities which it offers. During my research I found that there is no other course which offers the support that the access course does. My expectations were that I would be the youngest person in the class. However I found when I arrived for the first class that there were many people just like me, around the same age and with similar histories of leaving school not knowing what they wanted to do as a career. I expected to perhaps struggle with some aspects of the course, however those aspects turned out to be completely different than I thought they would be. I don’t find that I have trouble with the workload or the level, however I did find the class difficult when I couldn’t race ahead or when I found others were not working as much I was. So I learned to have even more patience with people around me and to give some help and advice at times too, so that has turned into a bit of a positive too.
Positive experiences
History
I’ve learned so much from history class about Britain and Europe. Also I have learned a substantial amount from Evan about politics and I now feel I can understand current affairs and politics much better than before. History does repeat itself, it is important to learn about the political and social movements that shape our experiences now and I hope to continue to learn about history in the future.
Literature
In Literature class I have learned to express myself in a way I had never attempted to before. The subject provokes deep analysis of the use of the English language and I’ve found myself gaining better skills of examination and analysis when reading anything from a newspaper to a poem. I have developed an appreciation of poetry and prose which has really enriched my love of writing.
Communications
In this class I corrected bad habits I had developed in grammar and punctuation. This had quite often made me feel less educated or intelligent. I began to feel more fluent in all of my forms of expression. Alongside Literature lessons communication helped me to evaluate the intended message of communication, how people communicate through unspoken methods and how the media are subtle in their techniques.
Maths
Maths used to terrify me because I felt that I didn’t have the ability to do well in the subject. This made me feel like I was less intelligent than I should be and made me feel uncomfortable. However once I began to study maths, I felt my power of concentration was improving greatly. I realised I had the potential to easily complete the work of the class and it was just a case of becoming better at problem solving. This encouraged me to see that I could become good at a subject through hard work and persistence. It made me feel quite proud that I could overcome my dislike of Maths and eventually begin to enjoy it.
Spanish
Learning a new language has also shown me that with hard work the tasks I can complete increase the more I harness my brain power. My intelligence has grown as I’ve begun to open my mind to the expression of a foreign language. I seem to have passed the barrier I felt to the language when I first began learning. Not understanding can be a great frustration to me and cause me to give up, however I have never felt this way about any of the classes of the course, especially not the Spanish class despite the daily commitment of homework. Shortly after starting to work everyday on Spanish I found that I was really enjoying it and I had to reign in my time spent on it so I was able to go to bed or dinner etc. Although I have not applied to study Spanish as a degree, I am committed to learning the language for the rest of my life. My learning has also encompassed a wider understanding and appreciation of Hispanic history and the people of all Spanish speaking countries.
Investigating Europe
Joe’s class gave me my first real taste of independent study. With so little class time I was able to schedule time for my own goals for the project. This required some honesty with myself as to what I was going to do to enable me to finish my project well and in plenty of time. Having free reign of what I was studying was something I relished. I really enjoyed searching out clues and contacts to find the most information I could. Eventually this meant I was knowledgeable in the subject enough to form my own conclusions and opinions, which really gave me confidence in my work.
Study and I.T Skills
Study and I.T Skills has helped to keep track of my progress throughout the course. This has been an important because it helped me to realise if there were areas I needed to work on more, or tasks I was performing well on which gave me confidence and also made me strive to do better. When involved in anything absorbing it can be easy to lose myself in what I’m doing. Study Skills helped me to reflect, to learn my own habits and create strong goals I could stick to and achieve if I simply stuck to my own goals.
To conclude I feel my year of study on the Access course has helped me become ready to study at university. I am very happy with my decision to go to university and I feel that the variation of the course helped me to decide which subject I was best suited to study. It has been a valuable experience, which has boosted my confidence, given me new/revamped skills and given me a new, hopeful and fresh outlook on my future.
