hard work pays off

Readers of babblogue will know by now that yesterday I received the results of my Diploma in Film Studies: I got a 1st class honours.

It would be completely dishonest, and falsely modest, of me to admit that I was anything short of ecstatic. Last year my results left me on an average of a 2.1 (or second class honours, 1st degree, to those of you unfamiliar with Irish/UK classifications), though I had scored a 1st in one of the modules.

This year I was given the precise mark in each course and I was flabbergasted at the grade I achieved in one of this year’s modules. I don’t think I’ve ever achieved a grade that high in an Arts course. I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, since all my formal education has been in Ireland, but a 1st class honours is difficult to achieve in Arts; usually only a few are handed out in each course. I’m not trying to hype my achievement, but to give an indication of my own surprise.

I would have been overjoyed with a 2.1 as that’s a hard grade to achieve. In Ireland–to give an idea of how this is regarded–you have to obtain a 2.1 if you want to proceed to postgraduate level. I was chatting to a friend from the Diploma course today and she seemed dissatisfied to get a 2.1–I was delighted for her. It’s not easy to score that kind of mark.

So, yesterday was a good day. Combined with getting a place on the MA in Screenwriting, I feel that I’m going in the right direction for my goals. I had a funny moment, though, when a superstitious voice whined in my mind: “Something bad must be around the corner then.” That’s not like me, but is probably the Irish hard-wiring firing. Some conditioning, no matter how you work to adjust it, haunts you occasionally.

I mentioned it to my mother, and she pointed out that not only have I experienced very hard times in the past, and deserve anything good that comes my way, but I worked my ass off for both of these current achievements. As she said, they’ve not been handed to me on a plate.

I felt justified in uncorking a bottle of champagne yesterday, and raising a glass in celebration of both my recent successes. With a fragrant strawberry bobbing in the bubbly, it tasted delicious!