As an adult, many priorities are vying for our attention at once; we need to earn a living, maintain our relationships, raise children and find time to nurture ourselves and pursue our studies.
As both a lecturer and master’s student, Roselle Sherriff-Shuping has seen both sides of this coin. She pursued her master’s degree while balancing work and raising a child, which was one of the most challenging experiences of her life. “I dealt with feelings of guilt that I was spending so much time away from my son and also worried that I would miss out on the significant moments and milestones during his first few years. Luckily, I had a strong support system that allowed me to take a balanced approach to these various roles,” she said.
One of the key attitudes that helped her was to favour quality over quantity, which she applied in all aspects of her life. If she could only spend one hour with her son in the evening, she knew she needed to make sure that how they spend it, would have to make up for hours she couldn’t spend with him. “Time management is crucial when working and studying. It is important to draw firm boundaries between when work stops and studies begin,” she added.
The structure and effort paid off and her reward came when she received the letter stating her dissertation had been accepted and she had passed.
The satisfaction she has achieved from studying inspires her to build and grow the students she works with. “While I have been teaching at Monash South Africa for a while, this joy never fades. Every semester I meet new students, each with their own strengths and challenges. Without fail, the students who do well are those who plan ahead,” Roselle said.
She attributes their success to their organisational and time-management skills. Techniques, such as putting all due dates on a calendar to remind you of when you will have an exceptionally busy week in which most assignments or tests are due, can help you stick to a timeframe.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northsider@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
