Naptime Scholar

The answer probably isn’t studying full-time for the final year of your undergraduate degree, but I did it anyway.

Trying to figure out how to balance a baby, housework (why is there always so much laundry to do?), studying, hobbies, family and friends…it’s a tough one. And pretty much impossible, I’m afraid to say. At least, it has been for me.

When I was at university the first time around, between 2009 and 2012, tumblr was the place to be for any kind of inspiration. I remember seeing someone post on their studyblr a triangular diagram that I thought was so creative and inventive that I made my own version and stuck it above my mirror. It took me a while, but I found a photo from 2011 where the diagram was visible – you can see it below. It had a label at each point of the triangle: one corner said “enough sleep”, another said “good grades”, and the final corner said “social life”. In the centre, it said “choose two”.

All these years later, and this diagram still resonates. I’d probably update it a bit, with a few more sides to the triangle. But the point remains – it’s impossible to juggle all your plates and keep them intact, unless you have a village behind you to help pick up the plates you drop along the way. For me, the plates are picked up by my husband. I won’t bore you with the details for now though, but I did want to state that getting this degree done hasn’t been entirely a solo effort – I’ve had help outside of the academics of it all in keeping the rest of my life going. I’ve also had to make sacrifices, both with my time and my money, to keep moving forward with this degree. It’s not been easy, but thankfully, I love my chosen subject, so it’s also not been horrendously difficult to make those sacrifices.

As of starting this blog and writing this post, I have just one EMA left to write and submit. My baby is currently napping and it’s made me realise what I’ve been able to fit into her naptimes as it’s generally been the only time I get to do anything. And I’ve often been nap-trapped with only one arm free, so that limits things somewhat. I’ve been able to do much of this final module studying and writing on my phone, or on my iPad at night as typing on my laptop seems to wake her. Prior to having her, I did the majority of my studying either at my desk or on the sofa – usually reading from the physical text books. But life changes, and so must we all, and now my phone has been my silent study companion, helping me get over the finish line for my degree.

So, I asked ‘what can you reasonably fit into a baby’s naptime?’ My answer is the final year of my degree, and going forward, probably this blog (and maybe a Master’s, but don’t tell my husband that just yet). What about you?