Second Year Results..

At 11 am I went into my tutors office today, not knowing that I was the last person in our group to collect their results. The conversations between my tutor and I are always succinct and to the point. Today really wasn't any different. I asked him how he was, and how his day had been. I then sat down in a chair opposite him, a desk in between us, and I took a deep breath.

He opened up the window on his computer. Asked me to confirm my student number, he duly typed it into the keyboard. There was a brief pause, and in his thick indian accent he said "Okay.. "

"For your second year, you received the result of seventy-.." HOLD UP. WAIT A SECOND!

In my head I'd already zoned out: I heard "seventy" something. My mind and heart was consumed with relief at this point! I didn't care if it was 70% or 79.9%, but I had a First Class result for my second year!

"-one point nine percent.."

71.9%! I thanked him and after some formalities and jotting down my individual module scores, I left the office and headed downstairs. My friends were there waiting, and they asked how I did, and I told them all my results. For that entire day, I was a happy girl! A great return for a hard investment.

Best of luck with everyone else and their results - my prayers are with you!

E-Mentoring

So I've had two practicals this week, one of which was involved IR Spec and the other, a Proteins and Enzymes Urease practical. Thankfully both have been carried out decently (courtesy of an awesome lab partner!) and I've still got loads of time to hand them in. But I would like to hand the chemistry one in soon before deadline next Wednesday (love submitting assignments early!) just to get it out of the way and concentrate on more pressing matters approaching. I'm referring to my Alpha-galactosidase poster, preparing for my Oral presentation, an SAQ exam approaching in a few weeks time and studying what I've calculated to be roughly 40 lecture handouts of last semester on top of this semester's material and counting. And I think it's just under 90 days before the supplementary exam period begins? I'm just taking it one day at a time I suppose, because when the going gets tough, it's about priorities!  

E-mentoring has also started again this year! I've briefly discussed this in an earlier post because I carried out this duty in my first year at university, too. But on top of my part-time job I'm an E-mentor with my university. Twice a week over the course of about eleven months I'm mentoring seven A-Level students and offering guidance and support alongside their applications to university. It's great because the hours are so flexible and work around my unforgiving timetable and I feel it's a sweet little bit of extra money coming in. It means I don't really have to dip into the wages for my "real" part-time job and save it up later. But all in all, it's off to a good start. I've said my introductions and gotten to know them all (seven very enthusiastic girls who want to study biological/medical courses, woop!) and they're so lovely. I'm excited to also meet them all when they come down to my university next month so it should be good. 

Apart from that, I don't think there's anything else to really cover. I'm on the hunt for a backpack? My current bag really isn't living up to carrying textbooks or anything apart from a couple of notebooks. Superdry have a pretty range at the moment so I might just pick something up from there. 

And what's on the agenda tomorrow? Well, you guessed it. A 9 o'lock lecture, followed by a four hour free and another lecture. I'll probably E-mentor in that gap, and my friends want to get some Mexican food at our university restaurant so I'll tag along. Should be good! :)

How's your week been?
Lots of love,

Semester One

I don't know about you, but my week has been pretty busy! University started this week, and already the revision's been piling.. So far all my lectures have been pretty good, but I'm particularly loving the Medical Biosciences module and the Membranes one, too (have an awesome lecturer for the latter!)

It's been a bit difficult maintaining university with the schedule I had during the holidays (work, volunteering, and e-mentoring) but I've gotten into the swing of using my planner to the absolute maximum. So far, it's been awesome! I can just dump everything onto paper and not worry about it at all. I'll admit I've also been on a bit of a staitonery rampage in the form of washi tapes, stickers etc. just to brighten up my pages however I do think it's working!

Oh and for my Muslim readers, I'd like to wish you all a happy Eid, so Eid Mubarak! May all your prayers be answered, wherever you are in the world. Our house is filled with the smell of food at the moment and it's divine!

How's your week been? 

Lots of love!

Pre-Second Year Woes

The excitement of starting second year is beginning to really wear thin. 

After taking my first year exams, the results were in. I woke up that morning and reflected on my performance at university in general:

I looked back and I remember feeling so bad, so worried about whether I'd even passed or the thought of having to resit an exam and ruin my holidays. The run up to my exams wasn't very good, in the sense that I'd left it very late and I didn't have much time to go over the content to do as well as I could've. I painfully recall the few weeks running up to each exam and how they felt the hardest; it was the panic of working my way through the handouts again and again until I felt somewhat confident in memorizing and understanding the material. There was even a point I considered eliminating handouts which seemed difficult, just to feel I'd lighten the workload. I thought myself, why hadn't I gone over this earlier? Why had I been so stupid? I had hardly left the house in those two months and when I came back to university to sit my exams, my friends commented on how much weight I had lost. I remember forgetting to eat at some points, and I remember crying every day at how scared I was I might fail. It was also a time I opened up to my mum, which is not something I normally and naturally do, but have learned I should do more often. 

I sat my exams and I got through them - but just. Alhamdulillah! Alhamdulillah! The utter happiness I felt when it was over, I walked out of that Physical Biochemistry exam and felt absolutely elated. I knew I did my best, I knew that whatever I got, I'd be happy because I knew I gave it 110%. It felt indescribable, I remember calling my best friend, and telling them I'd finished, I remember it was one of the first things I did. Do you remember? I counted my blessings. My best friend was there throughout it all, to listen to every phone call without fail when I was studying, when they should have been studying. I taught them genetics in order to teach myself and without fail they went over my 500 flashcards every night. And that person was still there to pick up the phone when it was all over. I am eternally grateful to that person! Alhamdulillah for people like that in our lives, they're absolutely wonderful and such blessings. 

And so, around 20 days after my last exam, I headed up to my Tutor's Office and waited outside the door. I remember him calling me in, and sitting me down. It was a very short talk, but how I liked it. All I wanted to know was how I had done: a grade, a number, a percentage, anything. A 2:1, 67.5%, he said to me. Alhamdulillah. I remember thinking how had I have done so well? It was a high 2:1, only 2.5% short of a first class. I took a deep breath and I sighed, thanking him. I left university so incredibly happy and humbled that day.

After my results, the unwinding began to kick in. I became lazy and I did nothing, but at the same time I did everything. Everything non-university related. I immersed myself in work outside university, in friendships, in going places and eating. And it's led me to this now.. the point where I've enjoyed it so, so much that I'm afraid to go back. A month ago, I felt excited to go back - well, the thought of going back (probably because it was a month away). But now that the new semester starts next week (possibly, I still don't have a timetable, eek!) I'm not looking forward to it. I'm scared of letting go of all the fun I had and dipping a toe back into that vicious cycle again.