Jumping into Post-graduate Study

Since I can't (at least currently) share any of the work I've completed for my clients in a portfolio, due to reasons of confidentiality and exclusivity, I've decided to document some of the other stuff I'm currently getting up to instead.

Last month, I applied for a couple of post-grad courses that came to my attention through an ad that popped up on Facebook. This was an opportunity presented by The Open University in partnership with The Department for the Economy, and this is my kind of clickbait.

So, having clicked the bait, I thoroughly examined the modules on offer that evening, accompanied by a glass of wine. I settled on "Entrepreneurship in Context" and "Agile Leadership and Management" (yes, I applied for two because I'm greedy and I study for fun so if I'm allowed to apply for two then I'm going to apply for two). It wasn't just a matter of sending your name and email address, though, you have to really sell yourself and present your case as to why you think you deserved to be successful in your application/s.

Good news. I clearly sold myself well, because I got accepted onto both courses. They are basically modules taken from Open University Master's Degree pathways (MBA in this instance) and presented as stand-alone courses, which are being termed "Post-grad Microcredentials" to be specific. I quite like that name. I can be like "yeah bro, I've dabbled in an MBA".

When I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology back in 2018, I was so relieved for it to be over that I swore with absolute certainty that was never going to study anything in my life ever again. I was wrong, however. After about a year or so you start to get the urge (or at least I did) to once again engage your brain in academics.

Since then, I've done probably 8 diplomas and a bunch of other short courses, and I have at least 20 left to do (I just keep buying more, you'd think I had loads of time on my hands in which to do all these courses - I don't). I wouldn't really consider those courses as much more than "fillers" though, as in, keeping me occupied in my spare time. Plus most of them are simply too easy to be considered serious study. However, now that I'm about to take on a couple of master's modules, I'm once again engaging in the real world of academics.

Over the last year, I've been loosely toying with the idea of doing a full master's degree. The topic of choice would be History (I told you, I study for fun, and History is fun to me). But the cool thing about my current situation is, that I'm getting to experience a taste of what it's like to engage in post-grad level study, without having to actually go all-in and take on a full post-grad degree.

Stay tuned for more study blurbs in the not-so-distant future, probably.