STEPS - Library - Central Queensland University

Part Four: Student transformations
clean, bored and feeling restless. The kids argued, pumps broke down, my
car fell apart, and, not having worked for a while, I was beginning to feel
trapped. I knew these feelings that began to rumble, and I started to think of
mischief I could find. However, I didn’t go looking for drugs. Instead, I
exploded my frustration down the phone line on some poor unsuspecting
Centrelink operator. Centrelink gave me the number of a counsellor, who
helped me realise I wasn’t mad, just a little disturbed, and definitely in need
of mental stimulation. Secondly, they informed me about a program of
study at Central Queensland University called STEPS. I looked into the
requirements and felt like running away, hiding from the very thought of
going back to school, let alone university. The first testing, I missed. I did
ring and make another appointment after soft persuasion from the voice at
the end of the phone, or maybe it was a little reassurance that I was not the
only person to feel apprehension. This was an omen, as the date of my
confrontation was now 21 June 2004, my Nana’s birthday.
The day arrived to begin STEPS, and my guts were churning. I began to
freak as I came closer to my destination. Trying to still the nerves, I took a
big breath and remembered to breathe. Once I had settled myself, I realised
everybody here was in the same boat — terrified. A couple of weeks passed
and my brain suffered from a constant hum. They were trying to tell me that
it was making new pathways to collect and store information. Yeh! Right! I
had a headache and now suffered from sleep deprivation. Every time I
turned around, I was late with a piece of due work, my sentences didn’t
make sense, and I had wiped everything from my computer. My frustration
grew as I felt trapped inside a confused ice-cream machine that only
produced yoghurt! Then we are introduced to the Keirsey temperament
sorter, and learning styles. I was now in my element, due to the fact I
understood the fundamentals of a personality that has driven my passion to
understand the world in which I live. But no one explained why I had such
trouble retaining the information I read and reread. Then the penny dropped
as the realisation sank into the empty space of destroyed brain cells that
were the resulting damage of my past curiosity. The group was walked
through Edward de Bono’s hats, mind maps, clusters, and the use of colour
to show the different references we had sourced, and the torture of writing
an essay with referencing. Gradually, I began to learn.
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