Ten Miles to a New World (2020/21 GYG)

2 weeks ago (W/B 16th November) was just a rough week for me, I was just struggling with a mixture of anxiety, depression and stress and I've since self-referred myself to my uni's support services - feeling a bit better now but I'm just finding things incredibly difficult, especially the workload and the 4 week lockdown in England which ends this coming Wednesday. I've updated my blog yesterday for the first time in about 3 weeks so feel free to read my blog updates. :smile:

I agree with absolutelysprout, there seems to be a long gap between your first and second exam but a very short gap between your second and your last exam which isn't ideal.

It sounds like you've been pretty busy last week, I hope you're feeling better after being spotanteously sick earlier in the week. I can totally relate with being spotanteously sick but that was because I was a total idiot and drunk way too much whisky and coke than I could manage (I had quite a substantial amount) and that was around 3/4 weeks ago. Also, I can relate with the face mask snapping, especially the stringy bit - they're not particularly sturdy. I've since ordered myself some reusuable face masks from Uniqlo which are quite good and I still have the disposable ones as well but if I wear them, I'd always make sure I have another one to spare just in case.

Good luck with packing. If all goes well, I'm heading home for Christmas next week provided I get the all clear from the covid tests I'll be taking this week. I've get a small handful of books I'm planning to take with me so packing that may be a slight issue for me but I should manage. Just feeling a little apprehensive about getting the train home - it's more to do with the crowds at the station than the train itself because TOCs such as LNER have social distancing measures on board.

Reply 61

OP

Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics

2 weeks ago (W/B 16th November) was just a rough week for me, I was just struggling with a mixture of anxiety, depression and stress and I've since self-referred myself to my uni's support services - feeling a bit better now but I'm just finding things incredibly difficult, especially the workload and the 4 week lockdown in England which ends this coming Wednesday. I've updated my blog yesterday for the first time in about 3 weeks so feel free to read my blog updates. :smile:

I agree with absolutelysprout, there seems to be a long gap between your first and second exam but a very short gap between your second and your last exam which isn't ideal.

It sounds like you've been pretty busy last week, I hope you're feeling better after being spotanteously sick earlier in the week. I can totally relate with being spotanteously sick but that was because I was a total idiot and drunk way too much whisky and coke than I could manage (I had quite a substantial amount) and that was around 3/4 weeks ago. Also, I can relate with the face mask snapping, especially the stringy bit - they're not particularly sturdy. I've since ordered myself some reusuable face masks from Uniqlo which are quite good and I still have the disposable ones as well but if I wear them, I'd always make sure I have another one to spare just in case.

Good luck with packing. If all goes well, I'm heading home for Christmas next week provided I get the all clear from the covid tests I'll be taking this week. I've get a small handful of books I'm planning to take with me so packing that may be a slight issue for me but I should manage. Just feeling a little apprehensive about getting the train home - it's more to do with the crowds at the station than the train itself because TOCs such as LNER have social distancing measures on board.

Oh damn, that sounds bad. I'm glad you did that. Thankfully the lockdown is over soon, as you say, though, so that might help. I shall go and read that shortly. I've also been having a terrible time with mental health but I've yet to get in contact with my GP. I may do so when I go home. Feel free to DM me if you want to chat, I'm used to going through **** after the last two and a half years.

I have booked a test on Thursday, as my flatmates booked for Thursday too. The problem is that I have lab on Friday, and the first rule made clear to us is that we are not permitted to miss labs under basically any circumstance. If I actually had to self-isolate by law, that would be a reason, but I don't think that requirement is in place with these explicitly- at least, we haven't been told that it is- so even though I would very, very much want to do that between taking the test Thursday and getting a result Friday, I don't think I'll be allowed. I'm hoping I get a result back before they start, but the worst scenario would be to get it during the morning and seeing a positive result over lunch, because I absolutely wouldn't be allowed to leave a lab half-finished, and might be forced back to clean up even if I did test positive then. So I really don't know what I'm supposed to do.

EDIT- My lecturer has switched my lab spot to the Tuesday lab set this week as there's a free space. I didn't expect that, and it'll make the morning quite chaotic, but I'm in lab tomorrow now instead, so crisis averted :smile:

(aaaaand breathe)

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 62

Original post by MidnightSymphony

Oh damn, that sounds bad. I'm glad you did that. Thankfully the lockdown is over soon, as you say, though, so that might help. I shall go and read that shortly. I've also been having a terrible time with mental health but I've yet to get in contact with my GP. I may do so when I go home. Feel free to DM me if you want to chat, I'm used to going through **** after the last two and a half years.

I have booked a test on Thursday, as my flatmates booked for Thursday too. The problem is that I have lab on Friday, and the first rule made clear to us is that we are not permitted to miss labs under basically any circumstance. If I actually had to self-isolate by law, that would be a reason, but I don't think that requirement is in place with these explicitly- at least, we haven't been told that it is- so even though I would very, very much want to do that between taking the test Thursday and getting a result Friday, I don't think I'll be allowed. I'm hoping I get a result back before they start, but the worst scenario would be to get it during the morning and seeing a positive result over lunch, because I absolutely wouldn't be allowed to leave a lab half-finished, and might be forced back to clean up even if I did test positive then. So I really don't know what I'm supposed to do.

EDIT- My lecturer has switched my lab spot to the Tuesday lab set this week as there's a free space. I didn't expect that, and it'll make the morning quite chaotic, but I'm in lab tomorrow now instead, so crisis averted :smile:

(aaaaand breathe)

Thanks, dude. The support I got from the uni so far has kind of helped but my supervisor told me to contact my GP which I will after I've had something to eat and got my **** together - I literally panicked the morning thinking I have a live session for one of my modules only to find out it's on THURSDAY, not TUESDAY. D'oh! Lockdown 2:electric boogaloo ends tomorrow in England thankfully and both London and York will be going into Tier 2 so there will be a slight loosening of restrictions on that front. I'm happy to drop you a DM - always up for a chat. :smile:

I'm also getting tested on Thursday and Sunday and I'm hoping for the all-clear. Yay for the swithced lab spot for this morning - I'm going to pop into the library later to get some more books out and for a walk.

Reply 63

OP

Thu Dec 3-

I tested negative I get to go home tomorrow! I’m leaving at 11am, which to be honest is about when I often get up when I have no classes normally, so alarms on and systems go. Below is a picture of things in bags, as you can quite clearly see. Most of my packing has gone into plastic bags-for-life because my mother took the empty suitcase when she dropped me off in September for some weird reason.

We had our last Zoom class of Chemical Reactions 1 today and with that, the last before Christmas- now it’s just lab Monday which I’m commuting back up for, workshops and our presentation next Friday. Finally nearly Christmas. I’m looking forward to term 2, I’ve got to say. The modules look a lot more interesting to me than the ones this term, but whether I’ll come to regret saying that remains to be seen.

Testing isn’t fun, isn’t it? Glad it’s there though. I was the last in my flat to get a test and after they all were negative it was really all on me and I felt so nervous waiting for my result- we were helping a flatmate out with a job application in her room and I put my phone on the desk and sat and waited. Longest half hour of my life.

I don’t want to make this update too substantial because I have to do work before I go to sleep, but I’m going to run down my news quickly, and the first thing is that my mother’s gotten me 30 days’ temporary insurance on our car from Saturday, which is an early Christmas present, and is amazing. Secondly, my nan’s buying me a new laptop, and my current laptop must have known about the phone call in which she first said this, because the following day, after almost 5 years of near-faultless service (I got it Christmas 2015), it decided it was time to finally give out, and over the last week has gotten worse and worse at doing really anything. Within just a week, it is now slow, flickers on and off, does those 90s-looking lines across the screen, and sometimes when it goes to the kinda light sleep mode (do you know what I mean by that) I have to hard restart it to get it working. Yesterday I had a lab report to write (which I ended up submitting this morning. Late. Oops) and that was a bloody nightmare with the constant on-off will I-won’t I so in short I think it’s definitely retirement time for that. It’s been excellent though, it must be said.

Thirdly I’d just like to tell you how lovely the people I live with are. There’s 4 of us left- 3 not including myself- and one of them legit just paid for my takeaway from the chip shop which just kinda bowled me over. She ordered mine and hers together and when the food came I was like “oh, how much do I owe you?” and she was like “oh don’t worry about it” and...I guess I was just amazed. Another girl who’s still here really helped me out with my mental struggles early in term, and another has cooked amazing meals for us all before and I just- I’ll definitely miss these people by the time I’m back.

I’ve had a couple mental issues in the last week, I’ll just say that as a summary rn. Next week, I’ll probably go more into detail about them, although there may not be a Thursday update like normal because on Friday morning we have to do a group presentation on Zoom which is worth...1 0 0 marks.

There is no break, when is there ever, though? My assignments should all be submitted by the 13th but then in the 14th I’ll be straight into revising for January, and as soon as those exams are done I’m onto the new modules so it just goes on...and on...like me, here, so I’ll leave it now. Hope thr week is going ok, anyone else moving back home this week?

(edited 3 years ago)

OP

Spoiler

your flatmate sounds lovely to pay for your chippy :hugs:

have a safe journey back and i'm here if you need to talk :yes:

i'm going back on the 10th so a while to go still!!

Reply 66

Good to hear that you've tested negative, I also tested negative when I took my first Covid test yesterday (results were turned around very quickly). Your housemate defo sounds lovely - paying for your chippy is a really sweet move. Good luck with your assignments btw and have a well deserved Christmas break. Btw, very happy for us to continue DM'ing each other for a chat. :smile:

P.S. I'll update my blog tomorrow.

Reply 67

OP

Fri Dec 11-

Well, then...end of term? Hardly.

OK, technically, yes, it is the end, but there's a lot of jobs left to do over the weekend, most notably the lab report. Also, I'm busy tomorrow for most of the day, so that'll eat into my work time, so I'll have to bang the whole thing out Sunday followed by revision starting Monday morning for exams starting in under 4 weeks. So no, there isn't really a break on the horizon, despite Christmas being a fortnight away.

But on that note, despite not being able to see family, despite the lack of Christmas music, despite the lack of going shopping, and despite the workload, I feel more Christmassy right now than I think I have for years; in fact, it's the first time I've felt like this in a long time, and it's so nice. I don't know what's done it, but really it feels like Christmas is coming right now, and there's something beautiful about it. Even the thought of the oncoming January lockdown doesn't much bother me because I know this time I'll be here, home, and it'll be alright, and when it's over I'll be packing all my stuff back into a car and going back to Swansea for another 9 weeks.

This morning we had to do a presentation over Zoom, and it was dire. The lecturer ripped us to shreds afterwards, and it was clear that all of the research I'd done in particular was entirely irrelevant to the question at hand. Not to mention I forgot to unmute myself so I was talking for a good 30 seconds into the abyss before it was brought to my attention nobody was speaking. Embarrassing...but there you go.

I'm going to make a revision plan later for the next 4-5 weeks up until around my last exam. I need a short break first but I really can't afford to take all of today off- the marathon of Autumn term has turned into a sprint to Sunday night now with so much to do, and I need to get myself there.

My mother has put me on the insurance for our car temporarily and yes, I absolutely have been driving every day this week. I drove quite a way today, which was a little stressful, and then decided to go and get a McDonald's but the queue for the drive through was backed out and way up the road so getting myself back out of the queue after I'd driven into it (in my defense I rounded a closed corner straight into the queue, so I didn't know it was there in advance) was even more stressful but then I got a KFC instead so all is well.

Right, I'm gonna go relax a little then get back to work. Let's get this term over with.

Spoiler

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 68

Good to hear that you're doing alright, but you do sound rather busy. I haven't been feeling very Christmassy tbh - it doesn't feel that way now I'm back in London and all that's in my mind is how London so far has narrowly avoided being placed into Tier 3. The whole mass testing of students aged 11-19 in the 7 worst affected boroughs is frankly pathetic. The possibility of another lockdown post-Christmas/new year does bother me a lot given that there's a 5 day grace period for people to travel to see their loved ones for Christmas. I think it will just but myself and my family this year and not the extended family.

Sorry to hear about your lecturer ripping to shreds your group presentation via Zoom - that sounds rather intimidating. I did a formative group presentation last year and we got constructive feedback from our peers (lecturers would ensure we assessed each other fairly) and we had to write a group reflective journal - it's not very fun to write.

I also need to make myself a study/revision plan atm because I effectively have a long list of stuff I want to get done, but I don't have a concrete, realistic plan of what I'll get done for when. Every time, I think about the work I need to do, I just panic even though I've been granted deadline extensions (2 weeks) for my assignments yesterday.

Btw, I'm currently trying to edit my seminar notes for my politics module - I actually need to get this done first before I start thinking about planning my summative essay for politics which is 2,000 words long.

Hope you have a nice Christmas break btw and remember to take some time off for yourself. :smile:

Reply 69

absolutelysprout

21

sorry to hear your lecturer ripped apart your presentation :frown:

glad to hear you're feeling christmassy though! i did during my flat christmas dinner and now i don't feel it at all back at home :lol:

make sure you take some time off to rest :smile:

Reply 70

OP

Sun Jan 3-

Happy 2021! I'm gonna jump right in so-

That presentation that got ripped apart? Yeah haha it got 66% after all that :^_^:

I'm shocked, I really thought it was going to get a terrible mark and I'm really happy it went a lot better than I thought. Following this, we had a lab report to do and...I'm confused, to be completely honest. According to Canvas, I got 48%, which it displayed as 48/100, which was obviously disappointing. But this is where it gets weird, because the guidance sheet we worked to while we wrote the report was out of 70, not 100? So is that my adjusted mark (as in, I got 34/70 and it's been adjusted to a 100 point scale)? I'm quite confused.

My first exam is on Wednesday and if I'm honest I'm utterly dreading it. Revision is going- uh- really badly, and what's worse is that I've more or less forgotten how to efficiently revise, being that the last exams I did were my A2 mocks, back in January last year. Progress isn't very efficient and I will be mostly happy when it's over and I can move onto the next one, and I'll be happiest when Term 2 begins because I am genuinely looking forward to it. I have a feeling it will be more interesting than Term 1, albeit far harder. There is a *lot* of straight up periodic table chemistry upcoming this term- as in, properties of individual elements and trends, which I love, and I'm not sure what organic is going to be like but it has been described as "getting a load of facts getting constantly thrown at you" by our term 1 organic lecturer, which sounds far more interesting that what we've had thus far (like, y'know, a whole week's worth of organic lectures doing different versions of the same mechanism).

Christmas has been pretty good but I'll be completely honest, I'm glad it's over now and we're into 2021, even though it feels like The Endless Struggle Part II just going off the first three days and the news. I'm going to be positive though. Oxford vaccine starts tomorrow, so we can hope that goes somewhere quickly. Gotta have hope, else you'll be nope.

I'm going to do a mockish exam later in prep for Wednesday. I did one of these Thursday which went- uh- really badly. So let's hope this one goes better.

OK, I gotta go revise. Have a good week :smile:

Spoiler

Reply 71

absolutelysprout

21

good luck for the exams!

Reply 72

Well done with the presentation mark and good luck with your exams! :smile:

P.S. I should update my Grow Your Grades blog soon... :tongue:

Reply 73

Becca216

22

Best of luck with the exams! And well done on your marks in the presentation/lab report :woo:

Reply 74

Toastiekid

22

best of luck with the exams :hugs:

you got this!

Reply 75

OP

Original post by absolutelysprout

good luck for the exams!

Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics

Well done with the presentation mark and good luck with your exams! :smile:

P.S. I should update my Grow Your Grades blog soon... :tongue:

Original post by Becca216

Best of luck with the exams! And well done on your marks in the presentation/lab report :woo:

Original post by Toastiekid

best of luck with the exams :hugs:

you got this!

Thanks all! Had my first exam Wednesday, it wasn't terrible but wasn't the best thing ever. Onwards and upwards to the 19th though!

best of luck for your exams!! :hugs:

Reply 77

OP