Term 2 seems so far away with all the chaos that the world is in at the moment. And I must confess that I am little late writing this blog. Nevertheless, here are some lessons and thoughts that I learnt in my second term.
Juggling too much?
So, in my Reflections on Term 1 post, I emphasised the importance of finding some part-time jobs to work around studies. For me, it seemed that getting two flexible part-time roles as a student blogger and a University Student Ambassador were excellent ways for me to gain some more experience to add to my CV and to supplement my living costs. Moreover, before getting these two jobs, I also worked as a volunteer at the Warwick Arts Centre, also to gain experience in a customer-facing role and enjoy myself with all the different shows too! As I found the Arts Centre role before the others, the plan at the time was if I could find no other roles around the university, that I would work my way up to a paid role at the Centre.
However, now that I found the two other paid jobs, I’d been wondering whether my timetable had become superfluous. As well as these roles, I’d continue to study, meet with friends and even join a choir in my department but all this made the weeks feel crowded and all these demands began to take their toll on me. If I was to go back to do the term again, I would probably choose to give up either a job or certain activity. It would have been hard for me to do, as I like to demonstrate a high level of commitment to something once I dedicate my time to it. But at certain points in the term, there was simply too much to do. Ironically, with the current disruption, I can relinquish most of these responsibilities and can focus primarily on my essay and dissertation.
Dealing with difficulty
It is not just the busyness of last term that has caused a great deal of strain on my mental health. There has been a number of factors that have caused this term to be difficult. However, here I would like to focus on how I tackled it. Notably, I would like to recommend the Wellbeing Services at the university. The process of booking an appointment is quite straightforward as most of it is done through my Wellbeing Student Portal (link is on Wellbeing Services page) and the sessions I’ve had has really helped me gain some perspective on certain aspects of my time at university. During the current crisis, I am happy to say that they continue to do their sessions through telephone calls or videoconferencing so it’s nice to see that the support continues outside campus.
Moreover, it also good to talk to peers about any issues you might be going through with your studies. I was surprised to find those in my department with similar reservations and concerns that I had about my course and sometimes other problems in life. In any case, it always good to talk through things to one another and thankfully through social media and videoconferencing software we can continue to stay connected.
How about you? How was term 2 and the transition into Term 3? Let us know!