Stress of marking combined with leaving

When the teaching stops, things get less hectic. A lot of stuff still needs to happen, but it isn’t important anymore at what time it does. If you have a lecture at 10, a meeting at 12, and a tutorial at 3, you may only have 3 hours timetabled, but you will be busy at least 4 because you also have to get to the venues, and the rest of the day is very fragmented. Once teaching stops, you can often just spend hours working on a task with little interruption. 

It can still be hectic. We have a sharp deadline for the marking of all the work by graduating students (3rd and 4th years). And there is a lot to do! Especially if you are also the academic integrity officer. If everyone is marking, you get a lot of suspect cases directed your way. 

I had started my marking with the 1st year essays as they came in first. Then I proceeded with the 3rd year dissertations of the students I had supervised myself. Only five of them; two didn’t submit. Then the first exam came in and I marked that. 

Then my two remaining dissertation students submitted after all. You just never know! Students get a week from the deadline, and if they then still don’t submit, they get a zero. Except that they can just get an extension at any time; even after that week. So I had to go and mark them after all. Im glad they submitted, but I’m not glad you never know how big your marking load is. 

I am also quite aware that I am the module organiser for the dissertation module. I can't moan at people to do their marking on time if I don't do it myself! So I have to be exemplary in my dissertation marking discipline.

I was going to the Netherlands, and I had arranged a cat sitter. That meant preparing for that as well. Clean the house, make sure the bed she would sleep in had clean sheets, hide a key, give her all the information she needs. It doesn’t sound like much work! But I wanted to clean bathroom and kitchen, and hoover the rest of the house, and that does take a while. 

I also had to pack. So it was a bit stressful! But I got it done. And then I was ready to not think about work at all for a few days in the country of my birth!

Clean kitchen