: T-23
On October 1, 2006, I will finally have something vaguely resembling independence, as I will be at Southampton University studying Economics.
I am, however, still moderately afraid - at least - of parental control stifling me even there. Being just 60 miles away, approximately 90 minutes by direct train, from home is not optimal when you have a mother so convinced of your inability to cope for yourself that she attempts to stop you completing a train journey to a quiet rural location and back again that takes just fifteen minutes in each direction - when you are already 18. The experiences of this and other acts consistent with the repressive attitude one might expect of a tabloid reader (ex-Daily Hell, now the Mirror)
I think that finding an objective, quantifiable measurement of self-improvement would help my self-esteem dramatically. Physical fitness, that's easy enough to measure, or at least in terms of its constituent parts. Academic progress, well that's why you're at university, and some quantifiable (if not always objective) measurement of that is part of the deal. But what else? Can one take an objective approach to other things? Number of friends, perhaps, but that just smacks of trying to be 'popular' (which isn't me), and brings back painful memories of career progress in The Sims being dependent upon having a large social network. Number of separate extra-curricular activities involved in? That would reward breadth over depth, and may provide a conflict of interest over how you define separate activities.
And should I focus on these 'other things' at all, and if I indeed should, is it wise to even try objectifying them?
On October 1, 2006, I will finally have something vaguely resembling independence, as I will be at Southampton University studying Economics.
I am, however, still moderately afraid - at least - of parental control stifling me even there. Being just 60 miles away, approximately 90 minutes by direct train, from home is not optimal when you have a mother so convinced of your inability to cope for yourself that she attempts to stop you completing a train journey to a quiet rural location and back again that takes just fifteen minutes in each direction - when you are already 18. The experiences of this and other acts consistent with the repressive attitude one might expect of a tabloid reader (ex-Daily Hell, now the Mirror)
I think that finding an objective, quantifiable measurement of self-improvement would help my self-esteem dramatically. Physical fitness, that's easy enough to measure, or at least in terms of its constituent parts. Academic progress, well that's why you're at university, and some quantifiable (if not always objective) measurement of that is part of the deal. But what else? Can one take an objective approach to other things? Number of friends, perhaps, but that just smacks of trying to be 'popular' (which isn't me), and brings back painful memories of career progress in The Sims being dependent upon having a large social network. Number of separate extra-curricular activities involved in? That would reward breadth over depth, and may provide a conflict of interest over how you define separate activities.
And should I focus on these 'other things' at all, and if I indeed should, is it wise to even try objectifying them?
Music: Carola - Invincible