A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration.
So I received some rather interesting news the other day from my parents. They’ve told me that if I were interested in doing an MA next year, they should be able to support me financially, provided that I stay at home. It’s opened a new door for me and it’s one I feel the need to go through. Of course, more often than not, such doors require keys and I need to get through this degree first if I’m to advance.
I spoke to my personal tutor today and she seemed very positive about the whole affair. I intend to steer my academic life in a new direction: no more will languages be the bane of my life and rather something along the lines of International Relations will take centre stage. However, this, as I hope most of you will agree, would go quite neatly with my current degree whilst broadening my expertise at the same time.
I just need to make sure I get a 2:1 Bachelor’s degree at the end of the year now – my tutor gave me the impression that I shouldn’t worry too much, as long as I keep pumping out some good work, I should hopefully be on track for the necessary qualification! I just gotta keep working!
The other MA that interested me was Strategic Studies which offers “a comprehensive education in both the theory and practice of strategy”, that being the use of military force and defence planning. It sounds interesting but I do have my doubts, primarily because the course is still relatively new (and therefore might not be entirely “fleshed out” just yet) and that it seems to be quite specific, perhaps even a little too specific. Still, if it means I get to pretend I’m playing Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds again and work out new ways to destroy the Galactic Empire, then it might be worth doing!
Not quite the forefront of military planning...
Speaking of Star Wars, lately I’ve been enjoying the new Clone Wars CGI series. To cut a long story short – it’s superb! The animated film that they released last summer was alright, a bit average really and you could tell that it had been made with kids in mind. However, the series that follows thereafter does appear to adopt a much more mature feel. The storyline are still quite basic, usually focusing on a particular Jedi or prominent Star Wars character in which they’re pitted against an enemy or need to resolve something. The characters are the most interesting aspect. As you can imagine, there’s a hell of a lot of clone troopers but the show’s writers have made it so that they do possess something of a personality, despite their ironic status of being a clone. For example, clones without helmets often have different haircuts or they might have a certain interest, such as one trooper who eerily collects parts from the droids he’s destroyed and attaches them to a chain, something that struck me as being very similar to collecting dog tags. The animation is also excellent – when I first saw the movie I thought it looked a bit budget but as a TV series it really is striking just how photo-realistic it can be at times. The season finale is this Friday/Saturday and I can’t wait for it!
Anyways, it’s getting late and my stomach is calling out loud for some dinner…time to go and cook a mighty fry-up! Until the next time, mes amigos!
