All work and no play

Step away from the booze, take off your dancing shoes, forget all aspirations of having fun, pick up some books, and get stuck in to your studies...it must be the final year of university right?

You see the thing is, I haven't really lived by those rules. I've definitely worked harder this year than any other year, I've certainly recognised that this year counts so much more and I can count on one hand the number of lectures/seminars I've missed this year (actually I missed a lecture and a seminar this morning, taking the grand total to 6, but 'I can count on one hand plus one finger off my other hand' doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it?). And, without meaning to blow my own trumpet, I'm really pleased with how I've done so far this year.

But have I stopped having fun and locked myself in the library? No. I should at this stage probably point out that my easter 'holiday' will pretty much be spent locked in the library as I attempt to finish off and refine my dissertation until I'm happy with it. This really is the business end of things now and I owe it to myself to make sure I give the dreaded dissertation the attention it deserves in its final few weeks (I'm talking as if it's a living being, perhaps it's finally getting to me!). But, up until now, I'd have to hold my hands up and say I've failed to retreat from alcohol a great deal, I've got plenty of wear out of my dancing shoes and I've ensured that I've had more than my fair share of fun.

For me it's all about balance. It is completely correct to say it's the final year so plenty of hard work is required and undoubtedly studies have to come first. I want to get the best degree I possibly can and I don't want to look back and feel I could or should have done more. However, it is also the last chance to fully appreciate the 'student life'. And I've tried to make the very most of it from a social perspective as well. 'Work hard, play hard' is probably the most concise and accurate way to describe my approach to my final year at uni, and as I've said, so far it has worked.

Perhaps if I had spent more time locked in the library throughout the year I would already have my dissertation completely finished and polished off and would be looking forward to a holiday in the sun somewhere over easter - so the last laugh may not be mine after all. But if the next four weeks are spent working hour after hour, day after day, and the end result is a dissertation that is vastly improved compared with its draft version, one that I am genuinely happy with and I know is my very best effort, then I'll know I got that balance just about right.