I JUST GOT THIS MAIL

early morning geography study session<⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

a small personal anecdote (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠)

im not that religious but festivals like ganesh chaturthi are a nice little break from all the studying.

throughout my school time, i remember having semester exams during the festival which was soooo sad because i never let myself enjoy and was almost never mentally present at the celebrations :/

i love dhols sm, been wanting to play them for the longest time

happy ganesh chaturthi!

Unsolicited advice from a second year uni student

Since it's now September and most people I know will be heading either back to school or gearing up for university. And if anyone did what I did they might look at Tumblr to get some studying/life ideas (I did this during my A-levels and ended up making my own blog!). So I wanted to give some general advice from my perspective to anyone who might want it - also this will be specific to the UK but some of it is just general too. Also I want to be able to look back on this since I went back through my blog recently and realised I may have needed this advice even just a year ago.

For those who are about to go to university do not panic (cliché I know) but seriously. You will survive the first year I promise! It obviously varies from person to person and between unis and degrees but the first year will generally be a massive adjustment period in your life. And that will likely impact your mental health. This is totally normal. I got major impostor syndrome the first few months of uni. It wasn't until semester 2 that I started to feel comfortable. And largely because if was an entirely new way of learning and teaching, I had to completely relearn how to study, whilst also learning how to live on my own, and living in a new city and making friends.

You will make friends, it might not be immediately but you will find someone before the end of your first year. I got blessed by chance in making friends, but I know lots of people who it took the entire year to find their people. The unfortunate part of this advice is to make friends you do have to go outside and meet them (and I don't always mean going out drinking although this is definitely an option). Look for societies and clubs at your uni this will be 100% an easy way to meet people. And especially especially in the first few weeks of uni go to the welcome/fresher/first year events. I avoided them because I was anxious but turns out they're an amazing way to meet people because guess what? Everyone else is just as anxious as you are!

Expect your grades to go down at first and don't be discouraged, you can and will get those grades back up. And even if you don't (given that you are passing) it doesn't matter. Grades, especially at grad level are kind of inconsequential for most people. Two things to be mindful of are if you are going for a work placement or study abroad year (if you live in the UK) as first year grades do matter for those. Something no one will probably tell you till it's too late. But even then for most study programs you only need a 60% in your first year. And to just progress you only need a 40% (at most unis double check yours). Point being if there's ever a time for your grades to go down it's now, don't panic, your degree isn't over, you're not an impostor, you deserve to be here.

Everyone is struggling just as much as you are. Don't be fooled by Instagram or whatever. Even though I am guilty of it, we only show the nice parts of our lives online. When I get most stressed I step back from this blog, and you guys don't see the tears, sleepless nights, frustrating, and also kind of gross parts of being a student. So don't be fooled if Amanda from your seminar seems to have a perfect life on her Instagram, chances are she hasn't got it as together as you think, and you are no less better than anyone else in the room.

Save money anyway you can!!! I cannot stress this enough but one of the students biggest issues is spending. I'm guilty too but do your best especially in the first year to not overspend too much. Still enjoy yourself 100%, but do you really need to take out five times a week? Or the new shoes? Trust me by the time you get to your second year and your savings or your loan is gone you'll be wishing you held back a little.

If you are struggling. Talk to someone. For uni students, go to your mentor, academic lead, or look up the mental health service at your uni. Every uni (in the UK) has a mental health team. I know many of us are disillusioned with student support networks but I mean this when I say uni support systems are better funded, more rigorous and it serves them to support you. You are not just a student at the university, you are a customer paying a lot of money to be there. It's important that you are happy and you are progressing, otherwise both you and the uni lose! Don't be afraid to speak up when you need it, there will be someone there.

For UK students look up student groups for your university of Facebook. I'm being 100% serious when I say there is a gold mine of info on Facebook for unis. I never ever post on Facebook but it is so useful for staying in the know on events, stuff currently happening, and lots of student groups are pretty funny/gossipy. Some unis even have pages giving away free stuff from previous students, i.e. crockery, kitchen stuff, speakers etc. I managed to save some decent money on these groups. Also if you're into clubbing this is a pretty good way to learn where the good spots are in your city ;)

Romanticism will only go so far. Don't exhaust yourself on how you look. At the end of the day if you are getting the job done who cares if you did it hunched over a bag of cold McDonalds at 3 am? It's no better than someone with a green smoothie at a coffee shop.

I say a lot of this because my first semester was an emotional rollercoaster. During my GCSEs to A-Levels I thrived academically and then coming to Uni I felt like I was so out of my depth. And it wasn't until the second year I realised that this is, a) normal, and b) not that deep! So you scored a little low on an essay? Take the advice and work on the next one. You had some awkward conversation at a uni event? Everyone has forgotten about it already, give a different event a go. One of my favourite things about university is that it is surprisingly low consequence (in the grand scheme of things). Making mistakes won't end you it's okay. I know everyone on studyblr is a perfectionist but give yourself some leniency please. Anyway that's enough of my ranting. To be honest I expect no one to read this. But I am curious how I'll update it in a year's time once I'm going into third year.

If anyone has any questions about university my DMs are open. (I actually am now a paid guide for welcoming first years so it is literally my job lol).

some ‘energy takers’ to avoid in the new year:

overthinking, people pleasing and unclear boundaries - 2023 is our communication era

dehydration and constantly going without rest - get a glass of water and touch some grass

negativity - everyday may not be good, but there’s a little good in every day

holika dahan go brrrrr

for future reference

things to study once classes end

for those who want to keep up a habit or just enjoy learning

a new language

a style of literature less commonly studies (e.g. fantasy, science fiction - I took a sci-fi course this semester and it was so fun)

practice an instrument or learn some music theory

take some skillshare courses!

start / join a book club. this isn't really studying but imo most English courses are just really expensive book clubs

learn to read tarot / study other spirituality. I want to get better at astrology

study your local history! your library probably has a bunch of stuff on it

pick up a new hobby or craft and learn the history of it

study the plants in your local forest, aim to create a mini foraging guide

design a heavy programming project for yourself, challenge yourself to learn how to do it before the fall term starts

teach yourself some psychology! there's a LOT about it out there

do a bible study if that's something that suits you

the 1980s UK punk scene. I just took a course on this it's great

really any pop culture era

the Salem witch trials. there's a lot to learn there

if you're up to it, learn the history of some local indigenous / aboriginal groups if you happen to be on colonized land. learn what you can do as an ally (I actually have a reading list for those of you getting in to indigenous American allyship, and you can always reach out to me for a starting point)

literally take out a textbook from a library or get a used textbook off a friend and read through it, annotate it if you can, study the material. It's fun to learn without deadlines looming.

work on your handwriting

had a mini heart attack when i realised my first graphic design assignment was due at 11:59 a.m. and not 11:59 p.m.

thankfully i was almost done with the assignment beforehand and only had to add few finishing touches (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

“I don’t know what my goals are, no. Thanks for asking.”

AAAAAAAAAA

i have to study for 4 finals in 2 days

and i have two papers on one day

IVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE

HOW DO I EVEN GO ABT THIS

hope i make it through

edit: I MADE IT THROUGH IT'S OVER

SO HAPPY FOR WINTER BREAK HAHAHAHAH

i have a social psych final in a day and im done revising one module....out of 12 modules.....

wish me luck y'all 😭

will prolly have few breakdowns in the morning

till then, good night y'all <3

UPDATE: the final went pretty okayyyy and i was able to revise all modules hehe