Music:'The Shadows Of The Past' by The Morningside
Ah, 28/11, what a funny little date in my life you are. When I was informed that I would know the status of my Honours application by the 1st of December, I should have known that I would find out today. The application was pretty much a formality, but I was nonetheless quite excited to open the mail and read that I have been accepted to Honours. I'm very much looking forward to next year. I am hoping it will actually be a challenge and I'll have to learn some new research skills and extend myself. Pretty much my entire time at school and university has been a complete snooze. I've had a few brief challenging moments at university, at least. Thanks to a convenient technicality, I was able to do a second year subject in my first year, and then when I came down to Melbourne for my second year, the standards here were higher and I had to adjust my habits a little. In both cases, I feel that I excelled myself; one of my essays from my first semester in Melbourne has my highest mark to date. My worst marks have come once I have relaxed and ceased to be challenged.
I suspect that if nothing else, I'm going to have to adjust my research techniques. They are very much geared towards spitting out short undergrad research essays rather than a proper Honours thesis, and while I may be able to still bluff through the Honours thesis as it's comparatively short, I know they won't suit the length required for Masters or PhD. Though undoubtedly it will make a big difference (especially to my procrastination) that I will actually give a damn about what I'm researching, and I'm genuinely excited about it all. Perhaps here I should actually say what I'm going to be working on - the role of infrastructure in the development of the modern New Zealand state. I promise it'll be more interesting than it sounds.
Anyway, I need to remember to rant tomorrow about neoliberals or the notion of theism or horrendous attitudes by New Zealand historians or something like that. For now, goodnight.
pleased