Wow I'm a 2nd year student!

This photo can mean only one thing! My first train commute back to uni for my 2nd and final year!

I feel excited and nervous about the year ahead and the reality of how close I am to applying for jobs and preparing for life as a newly qualified OT is beginning to hit me! I have a feeling that this year is going to go even faster than the last!

We have started the week by beginning our new module in which we will be studying specialist areas of practice for OT's and there is a 30 minute assessed Viva in 6 weeks time! I have never done a viva assessment before but I feel this will allow me to develop my verbal communication skills/knowledge and prepare for interview environments! The topics we will cover during the module sound really interesting and I am looking forward to learning new things and also synthesising knowledge I have experienced of specialist areas from placement.

I have received my practice placement 3 allocation and this time I am with a community mental health team! I'm very excited about this as it is an area of practice that I am interested in yet have no experience of. This does make me slightly nervous however, because this placement is a step up to level 6 and a lot more is expected of me within an area I do not know a lot about! I will now contact my placement area and begin my much needed preparation!

I have also been assigned some 'buddies' through the new buddy system at uni where we as 2nd years have the opportunity to help and support 1st year students. I am looking forward to this opportunity. I think back to how I was feeling this time last year when everything felt so new and I didn't know what to expect. I would've quite liked to have a buddy. I remember feeling lost and anxious at the critical language of masters level study and the overwhelming un-certanty of what was expected of us at this level. I look back now a year on and I smile, I can't believe I'm here and that I made it through without failing a single thing. I really feel that OT is where I am meant to be and I'm proud of the journey I have been on that has got me here so far. Here's to another roller coaster ride of a year, but this time with a years experience under my belt.

I will post soon about my progress on beginning 2nd year, my new modules and dare I say dissertation? ....