I am back to university next week to begin my masters degree and I have a number of anxieties about it, and I don’t want them to consume me before I have even started.

My main concerns are as follows

• Being dyslexic will hold me back
• My pain will get in the way and make things hard
• I just won’t cope, a bit like i barely coped in the final year of my undergraduate degree.

All of these are genuine concerns and even tho I am talking about them I am not expecting them to go away, but I am hoping to manage them in a positive way. Lets look at each one and think about it…

• Being dyslexic will hold me back

I am dyslexic, I can’t change that. I was reading through my assessment report the other day and realised that i have achieved so much academically and i should be happy about that. Being dyslexic didn’t hold me back at undergraduate level, and I made full use of the services available to people with dyslexia. As long as I stay organised it is not impossible for me to cope.

• My pain will get in the way

It might, I can manage my pain as best as possible but the thing with chronic pain is there is always an uncertainty that chronic pain will rear its head. Who says I won’t have days where I struggle to get out of bed, or I am too tired to concentrate. I can’t be sure that these days will NEVER happen, they might. But the best thing I can do is make the university aware of the conditions, and manage my pain properly. Stay on top of my painkillers, eat well, drink well and get a good sleep routine.

• I just won’t cope

I think my anxiety is quite well managed, but i know too much stress could easily make things really difficult again. My medication helps, and I think that as long as I reach out to people if i feel that I am not coping. I have learnt to trust a number of people in the last few months and its nice to know I have people i can reach out too if I am struggling. Unlike my final year at uni, where I very much felt i was coping with things alone this time I will do my best to ask for help should I need it and not let anything get on top of me.

No learning difficulty, mental health issue or physical pain will get in my way. I will smash this masters degree, I will get the ending to university I know I deserve.

BRING IT ON.