Study Group

@AlwaysMyself by the way I've just submitted an enrolment application for the Bachelor of I.T/Arts double degree and they offer an online mode of study which is what I've applied for! 😊 for arts I'm thinking of choosing criminology as a major just for the sake of learning and studying and to hopefully apply some knowledge into real life situations 🙂

I'm gonna see how it all goes, but I am currently thinking of undertaking the degree part-time, like at least 1 or 2 units per trimester. Maybe I might consider on returning back to continuing on with Cert IV of Information Technology at anytime this year or something and defer the degree when that happens 😊

Totally feel you @Blackcloud I wish we could all do what we loved without it needing to also be our source of income 😓

Really cool to hear you're delving into IT studies! Is there a particular area you're most interested in?

@Jynx According to a consultant I’ve spoke to yesterday regarding their I.T courses I’ve enquired about + ChatGPT, they reckon these following areas would suit me based on my needs:

1. Web developer

2. data analyst

3. quality assurance assistant / software tester

4. internal software developer

looks like I’ll have to do some coding and programming short courses along with doing a relevant TAFE course

might be nice to do a bachelors degree but I’m not sure how I’ll be able to handle doing bachelors again lol I feel like TAFE and short courses are more than enough for me

aaaaa😅😂

For some reason out of all of those @Blackcloud, number 3 sounds the most fun to me!! Testing stuff out and basically trying to break it? Could be a hoot hehe.

I reckon that's wise, going via TAFE for now! Plus it would help out if you ever did decide to do a Bachelors!!

I wish you all the best in this next step hun 😊💜

Thank you @Jynx

@Blackcloud I studied two Bachelor degrees that were useless for getting into a career but wonderful in terms of studying topics that interested me and being able to get a sense of achievement. It is worth studying for study's sake. And uni's are very accepting of people being different. I like how at uni you can be just whoever you really are and (as long as your get your assessments done on time and avoid committing any criminal activity on campus) you can expect acceptance from everyone. It is very very different from high school.

Your health is the most important thing. People who sacrifice their health for employment end up suffering for it. Sometimes people have no choice, as they require employment for food and shelter, which are essential needs for health anyway. I'm so grateful I have access to the DSP to cover my basic needs. I'd much rather work full time, but life is what it is, I need a lot of time and energy to focus on my health.

If you think short term work suits you better, there are a lot of volunteer opportunities that are short term or just on an occasional basis. It is reasonable to just do a bit of occasional volunteering, rather than having to commit every single week and getting overwhelmed.

One thing with the DSP, you can get a bonus payment on top of the usual DSP if you are studying. Sometimes people can get NDIS support for transportation to and from classes too (it depends a lot if you can provide paperwork to prove your disability impacts on your ability to drive and take public transport though).

@Ruby26 yep that’s true about getting the pensioner education supplement (the bonus payment you mentioned) whilst you’re studying - I did 2 units in one of the bachelor degrees I did last year in a trimester and was given the full time PES rate for that which was great 😊

I admire you for that mindset you have about studying two degrees only for studying topics or areas that interest you that are useless for a career — hehe I feel that that should apply the same thing for me regarding the Bachelor of Psych Sciences degree that I did a bit last year (though psychology is really content and theory heavy and it involves a looooooot of reading and hard assignments etc etc) but the content and just the existence of ‘psychology’ itself was what got me eager to pick that specific area in a degree.

also fully agree with what you said on the second paragraph as well and I personally cannot stress that enough of how much taking care of our own health is the no.1 priority mentally, emotionally and physically. ❤️

yes, I remember you mentioned to me last time about that I might be interested in volunteering for animals/pets — so I did found one and perhaps might’ve came across others that are located in vic too that I haven’t yet got a chance to look at. From what I know they’re all quiet or pretty far from where I live so I would hope that my support worker can drive me from my place to that volunteer place. I can also go back to volunteer at foodbank on a fortnightly basis instead of weekly but with a support worker staying with me at all times too 😊

@Blackcloud thank you. I was hoping for it to lead to a career, so it ended up being an unplanned study just for the sake of learning. I'm still glad I did it though. The first degree I studied involved a professional major in psychology. It was a lot of work, it was much harder content than my second degree. Most of my psychology class either dropped out of the course or switched to an easier major (of a class of 200 students, only 30 of us made it to the final year).

I admire you too, for continuing to explore volunteer work despite all the troubles you've had in the past. I hope your support worker is able to help you with this. I've found transport has been a huge barrier for me too. I'm glad to hear you've looked into volunteering with the animals and I hope it all works out for you.

@Oaktree @AlwaysMyself @Jynx @AuntGlow @rav3n

hi guys

ever since I started volunteering remotely at this organisation last week, I didn’t realise that they also offer student placements for those that are doing the peer work certificate course. So when I found that out I was willing to start applying for enrolment of the Cert IV of MH Peer Work course at TAFE - and so I did as of yesterday. 🙂

will see what comes next when I hear back from the TAFE

FYI, I’ve been a member of this organisation for almost a year and being part of it means a lot to me so I think doing placements at this organisation for me would be great!

@Blackcloud that's awesome!! Having a placement coincide with where you already are feels like a very serendipitous thing for sure 😁 Fingers crossed it all works out in your favour! 💜