Up until the end of 2022, I studied a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Creative Writing at Adelaide University. Even in the arts classes, I was the oldest person by at least 20 years. I know I shouldn't have let it bother me, and I'm not sure it would bother me now, but I felt so out of place, which is not uncommon for me, but it messed with my mind. So, I decided to study online. I enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Creative Writing through Curtin University via Open Uni. I started at the beginning of 2023, but because I wasn't doing anything during the day, I thought I could fill my time with volunteer work.
I applied to volunteer at a nursing home, taking down the life stories of residents; another aged care provider, visiting elderly patients at home and recording their life stories; TAFE SA home tutoring, teaching English to migrants; and with the Australian Refugee Association, visiting newly arrived refugees in their homes. I had previously volunteered with the Australian Refugee Association and loved it, so I thought I would do it again.
I ended up spending so much time volunteering that study became the last thing on my mind. Open Uni has four semesters a year, and I kept deferring my studies until the end of 2023, where I was volunteering four days a week and not studying at all.
With my volunteer work, I often scheduled later starts and finishes due to my sleep issues. I took a moment to reflect and asked myself what I was doing. I decided to stop volunteering so much and focus on my studies. I finished taking down life stories and working with TAFE SA but kept my position with the Australian Refugee Association, where I still see my mate, though I've stopped for a while due to my sleep problems. I tried to leave this position, but the lady I visit said she wouldn't see any other volunteers apart from me and would wait for me to return. So, I'll go back to her in the next couple of weeks. However, I haven't been able to do much due to my sleep being so disorganised.
This year has been totally disrupted by my sleep issues, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't accomplished much. I've enrolled in studies and then deferred again because I keep thinking I’m going to put everything I’ve got into fixing my sleep, but it never works. I enrolled in a semester starting on August 26, and I am going to go ahead with it, completing one semester for the year, and then next year, I’ll finish the degree once and for all.
I am a communications officer for two organisations, which takes a lot of work, but I've been able to do that during the night. It’s been good for me to stay connected to the world.
I know I started this entry today talking about my studies, but it ended up being about my sleep because that’s all it comes down to for me. I know I’ve said it before, but I think I’m going to have to go back to my old routine of getting up at 7:00am, regardless of whether I've slept or not, and just get on with the day. The only issue with that is I can’t drive, and there is a risk I might fall asleep somewhere, but it’s better than living like a vampire, which is what I’m doing at the moment.
It’s now 3:36am, and no one is awake. I’ve been watching YouTube videos and Ancient Aliens. I have to stay up until 7:00am because I need to send an email to the membership of one of the organisations I volunteer for; I didn't want to send it in the middle of the night, as it might seem strange.
I've been trying out gilding cranes. It's not real gold leaf, just gold metal leaf, and I think they look great. Underneath the gold ones, you can see the pink metal leaf I bought from Temu. I think these types of cranes would be good for jewellery.
