I can’t believe I haven’t logged in for over 6 days. I don’t think I’ve ever had a break that long before. It is with good reason though. All of the students among you will know what I mean when I say that I’ve only got about 3 weeks of term left and the pressure to finish my course is really on. Basically, I have one more assignment to go before the course is complete and it’s a toughie. Very long, very complicated and not a lot of time to finish it. I tell you what, I’ll be so glad when it’s all over. It really isn’t doing wonders for my health. In fact, I’m actually making myself quite ill right now. As I’ve said before, I’m not the healthiest person in the world and studying at this level is really pushing me to the limit. I haven't felt this bad in a very long time. I don’t mean to sound over dramatic but it’s true. When the evenings come around (the time I’m normally here online) I’m so drained that I just collapse in a little burned-out heap. Not the most dignified way of ending the day.

Having said that, I am persevering which is the most important thing. My condition is obviously much improved as I wouldn’t have been able to do this a couple of years ago, so there are definitely positive aspects if you know where to look. The other good thing is that as long as I complete this final assignment with a relatively good grade I will pass the course. I’m not looking for amazing grades or anything, I just need to pass. If I can do that I’ll be able to get into a full campus university in September, so that ultimately is the most important goal. The final hand-in date is the 30th May so hopefully if I can finish quickly I’ll be able to finish before my birthday as well (which is on the 29th) so that is a pretty big incentive too.

So yes, I’m crazy busy right now so I’m basically going to be taking a leave of absent from dA until it’s all over. I suppose that’s already started but I thought I’d better let you guys know officially. It’s only polite after all. My inbox is bursting with stuff right now but I doubt I’ll be able to clear it until the end of the month so I once again apologise to everyone I still need to reply too. You can be sure though that when I’m done with the course I’ll be attacking dA with a vengeance so beware of massive comment dumps in the near future! I’ll probably be around every now and then but not a huge amount. In all honesty, my studies are far more important than a website, even one as awesome as dA.

So wish me luck and I’ll see you all soon. Alcamin WILL return!