I'll tell you why I don't like Mondays

Noreen Brennan Donoghue is a new mature student in general nursing at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in Castlebar, Co Mayo

I can tell you why I don't like Monday's in two words - anatomy and physiology. I am finding this subject very difficult. It's a whole new language and we cover an awful lot in two hours. This is no one's fault but my own - I admit I cannot grasp it.

The lecturer is very good and has tried every which way to get it into my head, but so far her efforts have been lost on me. There was widespread panic and a lot of tension over the last few weeks when we got three 1,500-word essays within a few days of each other - in psychology, sociology and nursing. Now that is a tall order in any man's language, but essays at third level are different to any other essays I have written before. This is "academic writing" and the Harvard system of referencing has caused more panic in Castlebar than Mayo has witnessed in a long time.

Last Monday I came home disgusted with my now weekly battle with the human body. I was in such a foul humour that my significant other suggested that a visit to the local might take my mind off my worries. This called for a change into my favourite jeans. Let's just say that my disgust increased tenfold when I could not get into them. It seems that the sedentary lifestyle and tiredness has led to an overeating of sweet stuff and an increase in weight for a lot of people. We were measured for our uniform in the first week in October; I will be such a round tub in January - especially after Christmas - that I am afraid that my normal size 12 will seem like a distant dream.

My mother used to tell us that people who listened at keyholes seldom heard good of themselves. Well I wasn't exactly listening at keyholes, but I did happen to be in the right place at the wrong time. We got the results of our first IT test recently. The lecturer had all the results on one sheet, so we could all see each another's marks.

I overheard two people from the group discussing the results. "Did you notice that Miss Know-it-all that does the piece for The Irish Times only got 15 (i.e. 15 out of 20)? I wonder how she feels about that."

It never ceases to amaze me the way Irish people treat each other. There was only one piece of truth in that statement. I am not a "Miss" and if anyone in our group of 57 thinks I know it all, then I am definitely in the wrong place. I should be in Hollywood getting megabucks for acting.

Well to answer her question, no I did not mind getting 15 out of 20 is in actual fact I would not mind getting a lot less. I thought we were there to help and support one another, not gloat about someone we hardly know. I wonder what will happen when I fail something.

I was right about speaking to the tutors about the timetable, which has been causing me problems. The head tutor is most helpful and easy to talk to.

P.S. By the way, there was a slight error in my IT result - in actual fact I scored 20 out of 20!