So, I have two degrees I want to work on over the course of the next three years (one of which I've already started).
Each gives me four "core" subjects that I kind of have to do (unless I can show a good reason to suggest otherwise) and offers a number of options for the other four subjects I need to do for the degree.
This gives me a grand total of eight free spaces to fill... sadly there are 12 subjects I'd like to do. They fall into a mix of "subjects I probably should do because they would be advantageous in the future, should I go with Future A", "subjects I should probably do because they would be useful for the future, should I go with Future B", and "subjects I just want to do because they sound really interesting."
I also have to balance this out with the fact that certain subjects are only available in certain trimesters on even or odd years. So, while it would be nice to leave the decision about whether or not I take Subject X until the year after next, Subject X isn't offered in that year. Theoretically I could could it the year after that, but the year after that I was hoping to be finished with Degree Y and be focusing on a project for Degree Z...
For the German degree: I read the description for the language subjects and thought they all sounded useful for different reasons, and I think you are meant to be able to take them all, so it's not a case of taking 3A and 3B OR 3C and 3D, but one could do either or both. All I know is that you can't take 3B unless you've done 3A, and you can't take 3D unless you've done 3C - so you can't try to mix and match - if you pick one, you have to pick the partner that goes with it.
I also want to do literature subjects, though. Literature is kind of my thing. Or, at least, it used to be and I miss it terribly. I love reading things that people have selected for me. I never pick some of this stuff for myself, and it's good to have someone say "Hey, you know that book you would just ignore if you saw it on a library shelf? Well you have to read it now because there's going to be a test."
There are two literature subjects that I would like to do (well, one that I would really like to do, and one that looks okay-I-guess), but they are not offered in the same year. One is offered this coming year, and if I don't take it in semester one, I lose the chance to see it again until 2014. Fortunately the one I really want to do is available in 2013, which is perfect. Unfortunately, there's no poetry, otherwise my mind would already be made up.
I could try doing only one literature subject and see what I can do about taking three of the language subjects, but seeing as I still want to veer towards further studies in comparative literature, it would be good for me to take both the literature subjects. Which means I have to pick which language stream I want to go with: the one that seems to focus more evenly on speaking and writing, or the one that goes into writing in more depth.
For the Linguistics degree: I want to gear this degree towards producing learning materials, which would indicate that three of my electives are kind of already taken, and then there's a subject on Phonetics, which I would love to do. Sounds like I've got my four electives sorted, right?
Except that there are two TESOL subjects that would be exceptionally handy if I decide I want to go overseas and teach English as a Foreign Language for a living - which seems like a logical career option for someone who has a Bachelor of Education and used to teach English to native speakers.
Writing books and making learning packages is the dream, TESOL is highly likely and hard to turn down.
It's like being offered either a spoon or a fork, and trying to predict what meals you intend to eat for the foreseeable future so you can make an appropriate choice.
I could always do a Graduate Certificate in Education for the TESOL qualifications, but even I think that's starting to get ridiculous. Then again, I'll have two Bachelors and two Masters, so why not have two GradCerts in Education?
Anyway, just coming back to focus on the current degrees in front of me, the main reason why this jigsaw puzzle is annoying the Dickens out of me at present is because I have to work out what I want to do for the next three years in order to figure out which single subject I'm going to enrol in next trimester.
I want to do three subjects next Trimester while I should definitely have the extra day off work (more on that another day), and the way the schedule works out there are only two required subjects that I can do during that time. So I have to pick an elective.
The only German subject I can do as the elective for that trimester just happens to be the literature subject I'm not entirely sure about. If I take it, I'm pretty much definitely going to lose two language subjects, because if I'm doing literature then I'm definitely doing the Short Stories unit in 2013. If I don't do it this trimester, I might not do it at all - which may or may not be a tragedy.
However, if I take one of the Linguistics subjects, I can actually fit four subjects for that degree into the one year, which would be a big bonus in terms of Not Taking Forever to finish the two degrees - but that also means I'd have to make up my mind concerning the TESOL-now-or-later question...
Or maybe I wouldn't need to make up my mind because I could, in theory, take the two TESOL subjects and two of the three learning materials subjects and balance out both possible futures - but that would mean I couldn't take the phonetics subject and I love phonetics - and why am I doing these degrees anyway, if not for my own personal amusement, considering I'm perfectly happy being a librarian - so shouldn't I just chose subjects base on my personal interests? - but, then again, I am interested in having degrees that are useful for teaching overseas because that's why I'm doing this stupid GradCert in tertiary teaching anyway...
...and that's right, I'm also still doing the last subject for the GradCert in that same Trimester because I just want to get it over with.
And why is only one of my subjects available in the Third Trimester? What's the point of having three trimesters if you have to make everything fit into two anyway? It would be much easier to do three degrees at the same time if people would just be a little more flexible with when they offer the darn subjects.
It feels like I have to map out exactly where I want to be in five years' time simply to figure out where I'm going for the next three months.
I knew trying to do multiple degrees at the same time wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realise how hard it would be to "simply" pick my subjects for next trimester.
As Charlie Brown might say: "Good grief!"
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