Sunday 23 June 2019

She Passed

It seems like only yesterday that I was waving Eleanor off to go to university but it was actually three years ago and her time's now up. She's on holiday with her boyfriend in Tenerife at the moment but she's had confirmation that she's passed her degree.
She really enjoyed the course but she's certainly had to work hard. She developed exam anxiety whilst at school so she suffers panic attacks, a horrible thing to have to deal with. Whilst she was gaining Firsts and 2:1's for her coursework, lab assessments and oral presentations, and a high 2:1 for her dissertation, the results in her exams have brought her overall grade down to a 2:2. In fact, she was convinced that she'd failed at least one of her final exams so it was a huge relief to discover she'd been worrying for nothing. She came out with a high 2:2 in the end, being just 0.7 grade points off a 2:1.

If you fail an exam in some degrees, you could still obtain a pass by meeting the minimum required pass mark in other elements of the module, such as coursework, but Eleanor chose to take an accredited degree, which means that it's recognised by the Institute of Biomedical Science which some employers, including the NHS, require. As such, every part of every module has to be passed.

The course covers pathology, histopathology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, haematology, transfusion science and immunology and virology. Eleanor's found that her biggest interest is in microbiology and she hopes she can put her knowledge of this to use when she starts work.

And for anyone interested, Eleanor's dissertation was Do Polymorphisms in Toxin Genes Predict Helicobacter pylori Strain Pathogenicity? Yes, it's gone right over my head too but I know there's at least one biologist who reads my blog.

Graduation day is next month and then Eleanor will be waving another chapter of her life goodbye as she embarks on a new adventure, finding a job!

Well done, Eleanor, we're all so very proud of you. We hope your future is rosy!

52 comments:

  1. Congratulations to Eleanor. No, I didn't understand the title of her dissertation either!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Ha ha, both my kids are way more educated than I am.

      Delete
  2. Many congratulations to Eleanor. What a clever girl! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done to your daughter. Our Grand daughter will be waiting anxiously for her results to get into Birmingham Uni this Summer. I agree with what you say about the work load and the stress it brings on them. Amber has been in a terrible state sometimes.
    Briony
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Good look to your graddaughter, I hope she gets the grades she needs. It's such a stressful time, I'm glad we're out the other side with both of ours now.

      Delete
  4. Wow - what an achievement, I wish her the very best for a fantastic career. One of my sons had a very similar experience with exams at uni, he got through and now has a very good job. It is the learning process that counts. Good luck to her x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I'm so pleased to hear that things worked out for your son. Such a lot hangs on exams these days, which is a shame because there's so many people in the same situation as Eleanor. Just because they struggle with exams doesn't mean that they don't know their stuff.

      Delete
  5. Well done to your daughter, hope she is able to get a job doing what she wants to do very soon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Out of one stressful situation and into another. Still, I'm sure she'll find something eventually.

      Delete
  6. Congratulations Eleanor. That went right over my head as well! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. The research project Eleanor got chosen for was her third choice but I think she still enjoyed it.

      Delete
  7. Congratulations Eleanor and her proud Mum and Dad, an awful lot of work has gone into all that studying and now you have a fantastic Degree Ceremony to look forward to! Good luck job hunting too, perhaps a holiday first!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Eleanor's on holiday in Tenerife at the moment, I'm so glad she passed so that she can enjoy the rest of her time there now.

      Delete
  8. Congratulations to your daughter! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's fantastic news. Huge congratulations to Eleanor. You must be so very proud of her. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. We're over the moon and very, very proud.

      Delete
  10. Congratulations Eleanor! I am so happy for you, I knew how much you wanted to become a scientist. Welcome to the club :-)
    Your dissertation topic sounds really fascinating, I've always had an interest in Helicobacter pylori. Good luck with the job search, keeping my fingers crossed that you find just what you are dreaming of. Christina, fellow scientist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I'll show Eleanor all these comments when she gets home from Tenerife. I still haven't got a clue what her dissertation was all about, it goes right over my head. It wasn't her first choice but I think she still enjoyed it.

      Delete
  11. Congratulations to your daughter!!! And those are mighty hard topics, she has mastered. Good for her. :-)

    But please, think of the other possible meaning, of a subject line like this.... "She passed"... (That someone died...) Sorry but that's what I thought, at first.

    Sooooooooo glad it didn't mean that!!!

    ✨✨✨✨

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I'm sure no one would be so cold hearted to announce a death in this way, in the title of a blog post, as if in celebration. Well, I wouldn't anyway.

      Delete
  12. Wonderful, a great reward for all her hard work. Fingers crossed she will be successful finding a job. Such a clever girl, I didn't understand the title never mind the work that went into writing the paper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. It took Daniel some time to find a job after he graduated, and it took him away from home when he did, so I don't expect Eleanor to walk into anything right away but at least she isn't having to resit any exams, we're really pleased about that.

      Delete
  13. Congratulations.That is quite a degree to get.She must be very clever.Hope she gets a job soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Eleanor's had to work really hard, both at school and at university, to get this degree. It's so hard when someone has problems taking exams, the grades don't always reflect the hard work which has been put in, but she buckled down and she's now been rewarded for it. We're just hoping she can find a job that she really wants.

      Delete
  14. Many congratulations both to Eleanor, and The 'Support Team' :-)

    I'm not a biologist but I often look through dissertations at Google Scholar when I'm doing research. Eleanor's does sound extremely interesting. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I don't even understand the title of Eleanor's dissertation, never mind the results.

      Delete
  15. CONGRATULATIONS Eleanor. Your Mum & Dad must be so proud. To think I met her when still at school & she's now all grown up & about to embark on a career. How time flies. Wish her good luck with her job search. Take care & huggles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. We're all very proud of her. I was looking back at when we first met and it was in 2014, Eleanor hadn't even started her A Levels then. Time definitely flies.

      Delete
  16. That is wonderful. Congratulations to Eleanor.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congratulations! How proud you must be of Eleanor. She has worked hard with her studies, I know. She can relax and enjoy her holiday and then the graduation ceremony. All the best for the future in what she hopes to do next. It sounds like a worthwhile field of studies and work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. We're so proud of Eleanor, she had a goal and has worked so hard to achieve it. I think she'll be enjoying her holiday before the onslaught of finding a job, easier said then done these days.

      Delete
  18. Oh well done Eleanor she can now have a bit of R & R time before what she's going to do next.

    Mx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. She's definitely been looking forward to her holiday after all the studying she's been doing. As you say, a bit of down time before she has to start looking for work.

      Delete
  19. Hearty congratulations to your daughter, Eleanor!! I have a son in university as well, he's pursuing a degree in law, and I know the anxiety and pride we feel at different times, as mothers. I wish her much success and happiness in her career. You must feel so proud ☺️
    - Kavitha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Yes, there's definitely plenty of anxious moments as parents, but a whole load of pride too. Wishing your son all the very best with his degree.

      Delete
  20. Congratulations to Eleanor! Such a wonderful accomplishment - and a huge relief! It's funny how quickly time flies - seems only yesterday when I was reading your "empty nest" post when Eleanor was off to university.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I agree, it doesn't seem three years since I was waving her off to university, does it? I heaved a great sigh of relief when I got Eleanor's text telling me she'd passed, she'd convinced us all that she was going to fail. I've had a huge smile on my face ever since.

      Delete
  21. Congratulations to Eleanor, well done. All the best with the job hunting. I bet you feel like you were with her in the ups, downs and definitely the pass! Well done to you too for getting through it all, support and all. Hugely exciting! Cx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. We certainly go through it all with our children, the highs and the lows, but it's all worth it in the end.

      Delete
  22. Congrats to your wonderful daughter, meeting those great marks with anxiety is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Anxiety is such a terrible thing to deal with but she was determined to succeed so she worked so hard and certainly deserves her pass.

      Delete
  23. Huge congratulation to Eleanor, a very fabulous achievement. WELL DONE
    Anxiety at exam time is one of my 'on the soap box' rants, being an ex school governor I find it awful that job application depends on what they say and they could be a 100% attendee and put in full strength in the class but due to pressure of the exam it doesn't show. Then you have the ones that mess about and don't care, sit the exam and get good grades. In the day of computers and technology, there should be an easier way to show students proper achievements over school life. Rant over ....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Rant away, I'm totally with you. It's difficult knowing that Eleanor's grade is reduced due to the anxiety she suffers in exams when she got such good grades for all the other aspects of the course. It's just one of those things, it isn't fair but there's nothing at all that we can do about it.

      Delete
  24. Many congratulations to Eleanor … fabulous news.
    Well done :)

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. We're all thrilled to bits.

      Delete
  25. OH WOW!!!! Well done to Eleanor, what a bright young lass! An amazing result.xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. It's a huge relief to us all that she's passed.

      Delete
  26. Aww Congratulations Eleanor! It's an exciting and slightly bewildering time. I hope the job search is going well.
    I remember leaving college and feeling lost. For the first time in my life I had no idea what came next. Up until that point everything had been mapped out. Turned out alright in the end obviously, but it's a bit of a shock when you realise the next move it down to you.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. She's still finding her feet at the moment, as you say, it's a funny time of life when one chapter has ended and you're not sure where the next one begins.

      Delete