EPT
. After 4 years of university having to go in and out of hospital for schizoaffective disorder (bipolar + minor schizophrenia essentially) meaning I had to continually drop out of semesters thus delaying my studies, I am in my 5th and HOPEFULLY final year. Probably worth noting that 85% of Australian university courses last 3 years, this is because we start at 17 (not 18) and we stream into a specialisation straight away.
I am doing a liberal arts degree with an extended major in philosophy and a minor in ancient history. Why you may ask? I started off doing Compsci as a part of my dual degree but it wasn't what I expected. A long story. I've essentially put all my eggs into one basket.
Anyway, my dream was to enter academia. Specifically in philosophy coming out of HS. I could do an honours year but I really don't want to live in my city anymore (Brisbane, Queensland Australia). I just want to move, eugh.
Luckily I have dual citizenship. Irish / Australian. So I can get easy visa anywhere in the EU as well as "local" university fees. e.g. Instead of paying 11,000 euro I only need to pay 2,000!
On top of that I have relatives all over the world from America, to Ireland, to Amsterdam, and more. Plus I used to live in China and Singapore so I know what it is like to travel and live overseas. I hate Australia so much.
I admit I am humblebragging but I just want to express my joy.
With this last year I need to complete two semesters, finishing in early December. Then I'll fire off applications to various universities, some will be Australian naturally, I just don't want to get into the repeating trap of staying at the same university for RhD->PhD etc.
At the moment I have Groningen University and Leiden University (both in the Netherlands) in my scopes because of what they offer at a masters level. I could apply for much better universities because my GPA is roughly 3.5 or a bit higher if you convert Aus to USA grades, but I really want to get in to a PPE field (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). This degree is typically considered a very flashy undergrad degree at Oxford, York, ANU etc. Very few universities offer it, and I would have done it at my university but they only started offering it this year...and I don't want to go back for another 4 years...
The dream is to work for something like the UN (got some relatives in there so hopefully I can get some strings pulled), move onto a PhD, or move to Ireland or back to Aus and partake in political / policy / writing streams. I am so hyped for this year.
Unfortunately I do not have the mental strength to do university and have a job, I can barely scrape by full time at university. Last semester was the first time I completed a semester with over 1 subject in an entire year. This means I really need to keep focused. My psychiatrist says I am doing extremely well, I have been out of hospital for over 9 months now which is the longest I have gone, and I'm no longer on a cocktail of drugs.
Study. Medication. Patience.
We'll make it through boys.
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOYYYYYY
JEEEEEEEEHHHNNNNKKKKIIIIINNNNNSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
