Round 2! Ding Ding!! Lessons I've Learned and Where I'm Going with Digital Pedagogies.

Trigger warning - this blog talks about anxiety and mental health disorders.

Now this is a story all about how my life got twisted upside down. So I would like to take a minute, just sit right there, and I'll tell you all about how I became the girl who can't rhyme. And, if you aren't familiar with the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, then we'll just put that down to a generational thing. Haha.

Storytime!

October 2020. I am part-way through my Bachelor of Education degree that I've been studying part-time while still working full-time. I made it through Term 2, but barely. I was an anxious wreck and COVID-19 had done away with my neurotransmitters. I sought professional help and started taking medication to help me re-establish a state of balance, which coincided with my uni break over Term 3. Perfect! I only had to worry about my 40+ hours a week working in public health in the midst of dealing with a global pandemic while the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibiter gradually took its full effect. I could manage that. 

Cut to: Term 1, 2021 and my medication had worked almost too well. My anxiety was virtually inexistent but I was becoming increasingly apathetic and started experiencing low moods to the point where I had lost any drive or ambition. I went back and got help again. I made the decision with my therapist to take a little more time to find my groove. Unfortunately though Term 1 was well under way and I'd barely done a thing. I spoke to my very supportive unit coordinators and dropped the term. I continued working on my mental health and picked up my study again in Term 2. Then, boom-shaka-laka, PP2 was done. I was struck like lightning with the reason why I began studying in the first place. I bloody loved teaching! I successfully passed the term now I'm back! To let you know, I can really shake 'em down. My mental health has found its equilibrium again. I still may get little moments of 'Barry, the anxious b**tard' (as I have so uncouthly named it), but now I know how to compartmentalise that b**tard and put it into a mental storage unit with no return chute. So now you know probably more about me than you signed up for, but be sure, this time it's different. I'm more engaged in my learning than ever and can't wait to see how the Digital Pedagogies in Secondary Schools unit will help me become the best educator I can be.