Sometimes, you get caught up with life’s activities and then when you finally get the space to breathe, it becomes almost impossible to get back to your routine. That’s the space I’ve been in over the past couple of weeks.

I’ve completed the first semester of my Master's program and it has been nothing but financially draining and mentally exhausting. I’m grateful to be 50% done so quickly but slightly concerned by what the remaining 50% would require.

I wrote my exams early this month, after having only a month to get accustomed to the school environment, classes and courses. Luckily for me, the courses were a repetition of things I had already learned in my First Degree program so it felt more like a refresher for me.

All 4 courses were easy. However, one lecturer decided he was going to be difficult so he made threats and promised to make a lot of us fail if we didn’t pay him a certain amount of money. I understand the system and I know the school authorities would do nothing if we reported the situation so I paid him because I can’t take these chances like I used to.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for my results. I know I worked super hard and did my absolute best for every single one of those exams so I know I should do well. I just hope the lecturers feel the same way.

Aside from school and work, I’ve had nothing new going on in my life. We’re still working towards our relocation plans and cutting down all our expenses to enable us to save enough while spending a whole lot at the same time.

I calculated that in the last 2 months, we’ve spent at least $800 and still have up to $1200 to pay before we finish. That’s a lot of money to pay for an unplanned expenditure but the reward is greater.

My next semester should begin next month, however, due to the cost of transportation to the school and back, I’ll most likely not begin classes until September or October. I don’t want to be there unless I have to, and I realised that I learn better independently. I don’t need the tutorials or many conversations during class. After the last exam, I realised that they’re useless.

Collage designed on Canva
I’m looking forward to the end of this program and the start of my next chapter.