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

OP

Original post by laurawatt

Don’t worry about sounding ‘smug’ or whatever, it’s your blog! I’m glad the first exam went well, and I’m sorry to hear that today’s one didn’t go to plan :yep:

Holding up okay, just impatient for when the gov says more about what’s happening with our exams :lol:

Ah, thank you (I'll still feel conscious about it though but thanks xD)

Oh God, yeah, that must be an absolute nightmare. The inconsistency is annoying even me, and obviously I'm not in Year 13. Is there an outcome you're hoping for with regards to the plans? I can't personally see how they can go ahead with anything. End of the day, my exams last year were cancelled with 7 teaching weeks left of the year well after we had begun revising, and most of the students in the country would have been in the same position with, other than a few exceptions for modules taught in a different order, the same knowledge of our courses which we had almost completed in full. My point being, that was our situation, in which on reflection they could possibly have gone ahead with full exams virtually if desired, but they opted not to which I was very grateful for, so to do it to you guys who've missed almost your entire A-Level years seems offensive.

Original post by Sinnoh

Ahhh very well done with Structure and Bonding! pity about the other exam, but in the long run it's unlikely to matter.

Yeah I also miss being able to talk about non-academic things for longer than one sentence :emo:

Thanks! Yeah, true.

God yeah, I never think about it too much normally but when I come to write updates it hits me how little I do nowadays, or at least how little of my days I can remember because I remember nothing, either, probably down to sheer monotony

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 81

Well done with the Structure and Bonding exam and the very high overall module mark! Sorry to hear that the other one didn't go as well, but it probably won't matter much in the long-run.

Haha, I've not really been out of the house since the new year so can relate. Just finished a Zoom seminar for politics which went really well and I need to get through some pre-recorded lectures for tomorrow's Zoom seminar for my Policy Process module. I'm still working on assignments and have written 200 words so far for my Victimisation and Social Harm assignment (I hate the recommend structure they've given us). :smile:

Reply 82

Becca216

22

WELL DONE on completing your exams :woo:

Hope you get chance to relax the next few days :smile:

Reply 83

OP

Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics

Well done with the Structure and Bonding exam and the very high overall module mark! Sorry to hear that the other one didn't go as well, but it probably won't matter much in the long-run.

Haha, I've not really been out of the house since the new year so can relate. Just finished a Zoom seminar for politics which went really well and I need to get through some pre-recorded lectures for tomorrow's Zoom seminar for my Policy Process module. I'm still working on assignments and have written 200 words so far for my Victimisation and Social Harm assignment (I hate the recommend structure they've given us). :smile:

Thanks! Yeah, hope so. Hope your assignment goes well! How big is the assignment overall?

Original post by Becca216

WELL DONE on completing your exams :woo:

Hope you get chance to relax the next few days :smile:

Thanks very much! Yes, I'll try. I've been lost today, I won't lie. I'm not at all used to having nothing to do

Reply 84

Original post by MidnightSymphony

Thanks! Yeah, hope so. Hope your assignment goes well! How big is the assignment overall?

You're welcome, mate! The politics assignment is looking good, I've made a minor amendment to the penultimate paragraph and cut out necessary words elsewhere to briefly add in some more points and re-wrote the conclusion. I've made a start to the second assignment which is for my victimology module which I'll aim to complete tomorrow and then I aim to get on with the third which is for my policy process module. The big 2,000 reflective journal for research methods, I'll save till last as it shouldn't take me long to do - it's just daunting. :smile:

Reply 85

well done on your module mark!! :woo:

glad to hear both went at least okay :hugs:

i'm doing alright thank you, back in cardiff but doesn't feel hugely different from home!!

Reply 86

OP

Mon Jan 25-

Another relatively brief update coming up here because I actually have a lecture in 25 minutes so I'm writing this to fill time until then.

To round off last term, I had my module mark back today for the module which included Tuesday's exam. I had 61% overall, which is a drop from my pre-exam average but not terrible by any means and I will happily take that going forward, especially given the car-crash of an exam I assumed last Tuesday's exam to be, as I made really quite clear on here xD

We have begun Term 2 work today and have started two of my three new modules, with the third starting tomorrow. I'll give an overview:

Chemical Reactions 2
This is going to be a 100% organic unit for a while now until some inorganic comes in later and eventually some physical stuff crops up just before and just after Easter. This morning was the first in a very long lecture series on substitutions, involving developing on our concepts of electrophiles and nucleophiles and learning 4 mechanism series' for different ways to synthesise halogenoalkanes, and why they are very important components of many substitution reactions. On Thursday we will be looking more in-depth on nucleophilic substitutions involving developing our knowledge of SN1 and SN2 reactions.
...OK, did I sound sciencey enough there? Good.

Structure and Bonding 2
This started earlier with the maths and physics component of the course, looking at differentials and integrals in real-world application, and in 20 minutes we're going to look at another part of the unit, analytical techniques, which sounds easy but I find it to one of the harder areas of chemistry. In practice, obviously, analysis of a sample is a relatively simple process, as is using analytical data to predict a structure, but to break down an analytical technique in-depth and look at everything it can do and why it's used and why would we use this as opposed to that etc. is something I find hard to grasp. Nonetheless, I will throw myself at it all I can.

Tomorrow, then, we will be starting probably my favourite unit this year, Chemical Practice. This is designed for us to explore what we want to do upon graduation and focuses on three areas of chemical practice: research, industry and teaching. For this, we have to do such things as prepare teaching materials, attend (virtual, welcome to 2021) visits to chemical industrial companies, and all bar one of the departmental lecturers will be leading seminars on their research, allowing us a good insight into what we are dealing with in the research field. I find the whole concept incredibly interesting and am pretty excited to get started.

In terms of non-academia, it snowed yesterday here which it legit never does, and today everything is frozen. When I have not been in lectures, I've spent a fair portion of today with my sister (she's 12) in the back garden doing such things as throwing chunks of ice against the fence and de-icing the decking which was literally just an ice rink this morning. Yes, I may well be childish, but that's fun. I also went for a walk with my mother yesterday afternoon down to an area we walk to at least weekly; this place that used to be the site of a chemical works but since it was demolished 18 years ago has been a massive empty space which has since been reclaimed by nature. It's been a really nice place to go during covid because it's so open and empty- even on the rare occasion someone else is there, there's space in absolute abundance. I'll have to take pictures when I'm down there next, and shove them in an update. It was so beautiful there yesterday because the snow was basically unbroken in some areas which looked beautiful.

I'm always looking for more activities to take up right now but I know I need to take care not to overload myself in that sense. I think one of the major activities I ought to take up is some kind of fitness regime. Will think about that later. Either way, lecture is now in 5 minutes, so I will now disappear off to Zoom and stop writing this update. I hope you're all having a good day and lockdown isn't hitting too hard (btw, who's enjoying this lockdown more than the other one? Just me? Everyone's complaining about it coming around yet again but I actually find it more enjoyable in the winter because there's not really an incentive at this time of year to go anywhere anyway? And I can stay inside in the warm and do nothing? Eh, maybe it's just me)

Spoiler

Reply 87

Well done on the exam mark, 61% isn’t bad at all and is very respectable. I’ve updated my blog today and I’ve now completed all my Autumn summative assignments which is a huge weight of my shoulders. :smile:

Not sure I can say that I’m enjoying being stuck indoors given England’s third national lockdown, but the Winter weather does warrant us staying in the warmth. Atm, I just need to find stuff to do in my spare time and work more effectively because currently, time doesn’t seem to mean anything to me anymore. Haha can defo relate about needing some form of a fitness regime. 😛

Reply 88

OP

Sat Feb 20-

OK so er it's been a while, shall we say? I will try and not leave it this long next time, because a month is slightly pushing it, let's be honest...

Work update first:

Structure and Bonding 2
This has very much been a mix. Part of it has been an analytical unit which I found quite dull initially but with the last week of it being this week coming, I don't really want to move away from it because actually it's been really good and insightful, and I seem to be doing rather well at it. The same cannot be said for the really hard maths and physics component we have to do this term. Again, the last week of that is this week coming and I cannot wait to leave it behind. It's difficult, it's dull as all hell to me (if I wanted to do pure maths I might have done a maths degree. I didn't) and in all honesty I've yet to work out the relevance of some of it? Like- the complex exponent- when do I need that in chemistry? Also this term we've had a co-ordination chemistry unit and rather excitingly we have returned to labs this week, and I have done co-ordination chemistry as my first lab back. It went terribly, but hey, it's one early sign of things looking up with regards to being let back outside. On that note, up to four people from two households can meet up in Wales as of today outdoors, but I've decided I'm not yet taking advantage of that. Next week's lab session is labelled "The Fat Lab" which sounds...messy, somehow. I have a lab report which I need to write by Friday now, so there's that, and we've also just gotten an email for our SB2 presentation which will be a group presentation though I assume obviously still done over Zoom, just before Easter.

Chemical Reactions 2
So far this has just been a very long series on organic substitutions, but this is nearly over now (if you hadn't noticed, almost everything is nearly over now, because this term is split in half on content). It's not been bad, and my marks for it have been good (especially for my general not-understanding-organic standard) but good God the lecturer has the ability to just talk and talk and talk and our organic lectures are double the length of some others as a result which stretches well beyond my attention span for a Zoom lecture at 10am.

Chemical Practice
So this is the kinda "what do you actually want to do with this degree?" unit, which is split into three components- teaching, industry, and research. We've had 10 of the 12 seminars we have planned for research now, with the other two in late April, and these have been interesting and a very good insight into the kind of research done in the sector- though a small catch has been that we've had to answer questions and complete a workshop associated with each seminar and that's been an issue because sometimes we've been more focused on finding the question answers than listening to what is being said. For industry we've had an overview of industry requirements and have started to complete a career development course, and on the 2nd and 5th of March we will be doing virtual visits to multiple chemical industries such as GSK and Perkin-Elmer. In a way, this is better than normal, because we are able to "visit" places which the department has previously not been able to visit when these were in-person due to long-distance constraints, but now we can quite freely online. The teaching element involves preparing resources which actual GCSE-level teachers can use in their virtual classes. Usually, the teaching element involves local schools visiting and us actually showing them lab techniques and them doing simple practicals but again what a year we live in. Usually, this would be spread out across the whole term, every other week in conjunction with labs, but the lack of lab access this term has meant most of the module was crammed into the first three weeks. It is now quieter and I get my Tuesdays off again which is great hehe I like days off who doesn't

Elsewhere in my life, I am going to get myself re-insured on my mother's car, so I can drive to labs (decided not to move back to halls, as I would be alone in my flat for weeks, which is rather not nice). I've been not-that-well for weeks now, as well, and obviously that has been depressing, and I wonder if the lack of going outside literally at all plays a part in it. I've taken two covid tests in this time period and both have come back negative so it doesn't seem to be that, but obviously no number of negative tests is going to magically cure whatever is actually wrong. I probably need to call the doctor, but I keep either forgetting or feeling like it's too much effort. I feel fatigued most of the time and largely just want to sleep.

Obviously it is not like much of anything else has happened, because we have been in lockdown, and kind of still are but not fully but kind of yeah, Wales is being weird again but at least it's not England amirite haha aaaanyway I'm going again but before I do I'm gonna reiterate something I said back in April last year which now feels like a stupid thing to have said then but I will repeat: this is all really hard, but remember that every day is a day closer to freedom. You're welcome. Or not.

Spoiler

Reply 89

Sounds like you have a lot going on in your academic life since you last updated hehe. The career development course sounds interesting, especially the bit where you're able to learn more about chemical industries such as GSK in a virtual environment which may be better than doing so in-person due to various constraints.

I think you've made the right decision for yourself to make back to halls based on the fact that you'll essentially be alone for weeks and not really see anyone during the day, etc. which isn't nice obviously. I wish I got my driving licence already lol, Covid has literally put everything on hold. Sorry to hear that you've not been feeling that well in the past few weeks, maybe it's just the lack of physical interaction due to lockdown which is understandable - for me, each day just feels the same and my sleep pattern is really ****ed lol. Glad to hear that both your Covid tests came back negative - that's always reassuring! :smile:

Defo speak to your doctor about how you're doing.

You're right in your concluding remarks about how we're gradually getting closer to freedom again when things are hard atm. For me, I'm currently struggling to keep up with the uni workload as I've fallen behind a little - apparently, 2nd year of second term is intense smh. Also, it's crazy how I'm already halfway through my degree when my first year ended abruptly last March. Absolute madness...

Reply 90

sorry to hear you're not feeling great :console:

yeah i wouldn't like to be alone in a flat either! feels like a lot of people are back at cardiff uni but a sizeable amount of them are medics which makes sense :rofl:

i've been going on walks about 3-4 times a week and i do come back feeling miles better- might be worth going on a walk if you feel comfortable doing so? :smile:

Reply 91

OP

Wed Mar 10-

3 years! Do I get a cake for 3 years of TSR membership? I'd like one of them but also I need to be healthier and improve my fitness so no cake (HAH **** that yes cake)
So, in terms of work? Well:

Structure and Bonding 2
This is the second week of the "solids" module within this unit. Last week was focused on crystal structures and Bravais lattices- which there are 14 of, and no, I already don't remember most of them, so that's just g r e a t. This week we've developed on that some more and looked at close packing, packing efficiencies, etc. Also, drawing unit cells using cell projection diagrams, which are really nice things that I still managed to make look confusing by using one colour pen for all the different atoms :colonhash:

cos I'm stupiiid xD another part of this now is a two-week "Biological and Organic Molecules" module, which this week has been looking at things like annulations and...er...I kinda forgot to finish watching the videos but there's more stuff than that, too. Also, I felt really awful on Monday afternoon (I feel awful every afternoon nowadays istg) and didn't pay any attention during the lesson because as I felt awful I went on it then lay down and ignored it. Thankfully they're all recorded, though.

Chemical Reactions 2
This has moved on since the last update a good bit. For the last two weeks, and again next week, we're looking at thermodynamics which even after 4 of the 10 lectures feels like a recap unit with little other bits added in (to be fair, a lot of it is recap to me because of A2 physics which a lot of the course didn't do). Also, the vaguely-titled "main group" chemistry, which increasingly vaguely means all the chemistry of the s and p blocks, but in truth the most basic trends within that because we only have 6 weeks, not 6 years :lol:

this morning, this focused on the oxides which is also next week's focus, then the hydrides and then lastly the halides in the week after Easter.

Chemical Practice
We had virtual industry visits last Tuesday and Friday to multiple places both in the local region and wider. This was insightful but it's not like I'm any closer to knowing what I wanna do in the future...

OK, here comes the weirdest bit to write. There are three-ish remaining weeks of content left of first year, and I don't know how to feel. It doesn't feel like this is even my first year. It feels like this is some kind of build up to it because there is no uni and the three years following this one are my university years. But no. In around a fortnight what was supposed to be one of the biggest years of my life is kind of over, bar a few formalities in late April/May, and I don't know how to feel, because it feels by now as if I'd be yearning for something that not only never happened but that doesn't even exist. I almost want to cry sometimes to think about that but at the same time I don't and if I did, what for? I don't even know what it's like, and I've forgotten completely what normal life feels like. I don't even think about doing things like seeing friends any more because it feels right now as if that is something that'll never happen again, and I've kind of gone through the process of feeling wistful for that and gotten to where I just feel resigned, because that just isn't a thing that happens. When I think of future plans I tend not to think too much because to go places and see people again, other than my weekly lab visits, is incomprehensible. I don't even miss things. You can't miss something if you're so far resigned it feels more like memory is imagination than truth.

Another thing is I barely feel like I could even talk to someone any more. I can talk online, sure, but I don't think I'll be able to have conversations irl until the pandemic is actually over because unless I feel comfortable in conversation I can't do conversation, and right now I don't feel comfortable setting foot outside the front door.

God, this was so depressing xD but I hope by the next time I update I'll have more to say. How are you all coping?

Spoiler

Reply 92

Sinnoh

22

Damn, you only joined a couple weeks before me. And you finish early wow.

Honestly, I think we will be able to quickly adapt to normality returning. These past 12 months aren't going to be that memorable and they won't stick with us that much - how could they be when we were just at home most of the time? Our experiences outside of pandemic conditions will far outweigh this.

Reply 93

Congrats on making it to your 3rd year of TSR membership! :h:

It's weird how we both finish teaching for the academic year either this week or next week which is honestly surreal... 2020 just felt like it was only yesterday! Having said that, I can't imagine what it's like to have to start your uni experience having to learn asynchronously pretty much for the year, excluding times where you probably had blended learning at some point and you attending your lab sessions. On my side, this academic year has gone by quickly, but certainly without its challenges as you'll know from reading my blog updates and us DM'ing each other on here.

I think we'll return to some form of normality by April/May (based on England's roadmap out of lockdown) and we should be able to adapt relatively quickly towards a return to normality. I agree with Sinnoh's point about how our experiences outside of pandemic conditions will far outweigh our experiences over the last 12 months or so.

Personally, I'm doing ok atm, but I'm struggling with productivity and I've got some uni work I need to catch up on. Atm, I'm still unsure/undecided whether it'll be worth returning to uni for a shorter Summer term (it's just revision for assessments), but I do miss catching up with friends in-person - having to do so over Zoom is not quite the same. Slightly further into the future, it would be nice to see other family members/relatives actually, some of whom I haven't seen since the pandemic started. I'm also looking forward to hopefully securing a Year in Industry placement with Northern Trains - I'm at the final stage of the process as I've been invited to a virtual assessment day.

Btw, I hope you're doing something nice in your spare time - things will get better soon! :smile:

Reply 94

3 weeks

i don't know how long i've got left but i think i've got a bit longer than you to go!
it's gonna be weird at first but i think people will settle into a routine fairly quickly and get used to it :yes:

most people have probably found first year underwhelming and disappointing so don't worry :hugs:

i went into first year w low expectations bc of covid-19 :rofl:

definitely found some beauty in the little moments this year though, like the few days of sun we had a while back! went on a run with a friend a while back and we sat by the river at one point whilst the sun was setting and it was rather lovely :h:

Reply 95

OP

Original post by Sinnoh

Damn, you only joined a couple weeks before me. And you finish early wow.

Honestly, I think we will be able to quickly adapt to normality returning. These past 12 months aren't going to be that memorable and they won't stick with us that much - how could they be when we were just at home most of the time? Our experiences outside of pandemic conditions will far outweigh this.

Well- when I say formalities after Easter I mean exams, so I'm not really done xD but I'm kind of treating it as if I am because lessons are so few and far between it feels like we might as well be. I don't really think I will be. I'm going to meet someone on Tuesday and even that feels like a massive jump and I don't know if I feel ready to go see people again yet. I'll be honest, the last few months have hit me mentally like a brick and I feel permanently fatigued and generally shite with little motivation to do anything at any point. It's not nice, and restrictions easing isn't going to really solve this, because fundamentally I still have mental health issues no matter how many restrictions can be eased, but what might help is that I'm getting a formal mental health assessment a week Monday, so there's that.

Original post by CoffeeAndPolitics

Congrats on making it to your 3rd year of TSR membership! :h:

It's weird how we both finish teaching for the academic year either this week or next week which is honestly surreal... 2020 just felt like it was only yesterday! Having said that, I can't imagine what it's like to have to start your uni experience having to learn asynchronously pretty much for the year, excluding times where you probably had blended learning at some point and you attending your lab sessions. On my side, this academic year has gone by quickly, but certainly without its challenges as you'll know from reading my blog updates and us DM'ing each other on here.

I think we'll return to some form of normality by April/May (based on England's roadmap out of lockdown) and we should be able to adapt relatively quickly towards a return to normality. I agree with Sinnoh's point about how our experiences outside of pandemic conditions will far outweigh our experiences over the last 12 months or so.

Personally, I'm doing ok atm, but I'm struggling with productivity and I've got some uni work I need to catch up on. Atm, I'm still unsure/undecided whether it'll be worth returning to uni for a shorter Summer term (it's just revision for assessments), but I do miss catching up with friends in-person - having to do so over Zoom is not quite the same. Slightly further into the future, it would be nice to see other family members/relatives actually, some of whom I haven't seen since the pandemic started. I'm also looking forward to hopefully securing a Year in Industry placement with Northern Trains - I'm at the final stage of the process as I've been invited to a virtual assessment day.

Btw, I hope you're doing something nice in your spare time - things will get better soon! :smile:

Thanks! I literally joined to ask whether I ought to do 3 or 4 A-Levels then ignored the advice I got but yet, here I am, four GYG blogs later xD

Aha, see, Wales doesn't have a roadmap except kind of one for reopening schools because apparently Kirsty Williams is the only person who plans anything, so we're doing a little thing called flying blind right now (I'm sorry I keep bringing up the Welsh situation when we talk about this, it's just that sometimes it's so vastly different here it's like living in a completely different time period to you lot across the border). Having said that we can meet up with people in gardens again now which is nice enough, so as mentioned above I'm going to see my boyfriend Tuesday (I can see him on his birthday this year in three weeks which is one of the absolute main things I wanted in all this because he spent it pretty much alone last year and his family basically forgot it was even his birthday let alone his 18th so that was horrible). Experiences will get better but mental health isn't such a quick fix- on that note, it's really annoying me how so much of the media right now is portraying mental health issues as if they are something that started in March 2020 and that will go away as soon as the pandemic does- I grant that more people are suffering massively now, but there was a major mental health crisis in 2019, 2018 etc and I think that needs attention brought to it as well as pandemic effects.

I hope you get the thing with Northern Trains and the virtual assessment day goes alright!

Original post by absolutelysprout

3 weeks

i don't know how long i've got left but i think i've got a bit longer than you to go!
it's gonna be weird at first but i think people will settle into a routine fairly quickly and get used to it :yes:

most people have probably found first year underwhelming and disappointing so don't worry :hugs:

i went into first year w low expectations bc of covid-19 :rofl:

definitely found some beauty in the little moments this year though, like the few days of sun we had a while back! went on a run with a friend a while back and we sat by the river at one point whilst the sun was setting and it was rather lovely :h:

Well...see what I wrote to Sinnoh above.

I have found first year underwhelming but there's a whole lot more I've encountered this year, a lot of which is my own damn fault but some of which isn't. It doesn't feel like a uni year, even, it doesn't feel as if I've actually started university, more that I'm on some online step up course. It's so weird, and I dislike it xD but hopefully things will be a lot more normal for second year.

Thanks all for the replies by the way, much appreciated!

Reply 96

Original post by MidnightSymphony

Thanks! I literally joined to ask whether I ought to do 3 or 4 A-Levels then ignored the advice I got but yet, here I am, four GYG blogs later xD

Aha, see, Wales doesn't have a roadmap except kind of one for reopening schools because apparently Kirsty Williams is the only person who plans anything, so we're doing a little thing called flying blind right now (I'm sorry I keep bringing up the Welsh situation when we talk about this, it's just that sometimes it's so vastly different here it's like living in a completely different time period to you lot across the border). Having said that we can meet up with people in gardens again now which is nice enough, so as mentioned above I'm going to see my boyfriend Tuesday (I can see him on his birthday this year in three weeks which is one of the absolute main things I wanted in all this because he spent it pretty much alone last year and his family basically forgot it was even his birthday let alone his 18th so that was horrible). Experiences will get better but mental health isn't such a quick fix- on that note, it's really annoying me how so much of the media right now is portraying mental health issues as if they are something that started in March 2020 and that will go away as soon as the pandemic does- I grant that more people are suffering massively now, but there was a major mental health crisis in 2019, 2018 etc and I think that needs attention brought to it as well as pandemic effects.

I hope you get the thing with Northern Trains and the virtual assessment day goes alright!

You're welcome! I'll be approaching my 6th birthday on TSR by mid-August which is actually mind-blowing. I initially joined TSR for some GCSE advice and have stuck around since. :biggrin:

Admittedly, I don't know what the route out of lockdown is like for the other nations in the UK, including Wales, but I usually make it clear that I'm referring to England should I talk about that. In England, we'll move to the second half of Stage 1 of our roadmap out of lockdown with the 'rule of 6', including meetings in private gardens and 'stay at home' becomes 'stay local' from 29th March if things continue to head in the right direction. That doesn't really mean much to me as I'm still stuck at home in London, but the 'rule of 6' from 29th March will be good news - if I'm back in York after Easter, I can meet up with a small group of friends socially distanced and student societies could start doing a few in-person events (that requires filling out a lot of paperwork, etc. but it's worth it).

It's good to hear that in Wales, you can now meet people in private gardens and I hope you have a nice time with your boyfriend when you see him for his birthday. I completely agree with you about how the media/society, in general, is portraying the topic of mental health, it's totally wrong to assume that mental health problems will magically disappear once the pandemic ends and we return to normality - there's just no quick fix and it's one of the many topical issues that the UK government ought to take seriously.

Thank you! I'm a bit nervous about the virtual assessment day with Northern Trains, but I'll be alright. Obviously, I'm not allowed to comment on what the virtual assessment day will be like, but I've been doing all the necessary preparation that I can. I just need to spend a bit of time brushing up on my Maths skills for any attitude/psychometric tests I could face. :smile:

Reply 97

OP

Sun Mar 28-

Term 2 complete! This leaves one and a half weeks' worth of lessons, two exams and a practical assessment until the end of the year- so as far as I'm concerned the year may as well be over by now. Very, very odd. To go through what work I've done:

Structure and Bonding 2
Since last time I updated this we completed the bio-organic section (which is hard, but maybe that's just me) and have now almost completed the solid structures stuff. I'm not entirely sure what's left to do but there's a small section to do after Easter before we're done with the unit. As for revision, which I am starting tomorrow (I was originally going to have a week off next week, but I have decided not to) I will probably start with the bio-organic stuff, as there's a lot I'm way behind on there. Exam: Tuesday 11 May

Chemical Reactions 2
This has been the more active unit recently. We've been doing thermodynamics (my first port of call to revise in this unit because it's damn well hard) as well as more on the main group inorganic (which we had a lab on yesterday which failed miserably for me), focusing on more on the oxides as well as the hydrides- after the holidays we'll finish the topic by looking at the halides. We've also started a small section on redox, which makes up most of what little content we have to do after Easter. On another note, I keep numbered page notes on all the topics and I'm already on page 108 in this module with more to go, because it's enormous, compared to CR1 having 79 when completed. Exam: Tuesday 25 May

As well as the two exams mentioned above we have a practical assessment to finish the year on Thursday 27 May, meaning our exams are in the same weird distribution as they should've been in January before the term 1 prac assessment got cancelled thanks to lockdown. However, considering how much more I need to revise SB2 because my running mark from coursework is so much worse (61% vs 76%) it might help somewhat to have the two main exams spaced out like that, with SB2 first which I'll then prioritize greatly over the next six weeks before then spending the two others on CR2.

I'm going to make enquiries this week about accommodation for second year. Because I know nobody, I'm looking into private halls and I've found this one place which costs less than the halls I'm in this year per week which looks so nice. So I need to call them up and ask about it. See, I'm still torn on whether to move out at all and to be frank if next year is set to look like this year I would probably be better off staying here, but then again if it isn't I will feel as though I'm sorely losing out and that argument has kind of won out in the end in my head

Erm. What happened? Well, we're not in lockdown any more as of yesterday, not as if that means anything, still haven't done anything and nor will I, probably. Times are still depressing but hey, we're getting that new vaccine soon, apparently, so that might help things a bit. A small bit. Honestly, I'm not sure, and now I'm just rambling to fill the empty space...

OH. I remembered something. I had what was supposed to be a mental health assessment on Monday. It was terrible, it was not an assessment, and I feel even worse for it (and they've sent me a letter telling me to look up mindfulness-). I'm debating whether to go private, to be honest. I know it will cost me a lot, but apparently I can get a student discount on some of these things and either way it'll be worth it because it's almost two years to the day since I first had counselling on the NHS and I've been in and out of it since then and honestly it's been one enormous car crash the whole time and at some point I've got to accept that it isn't going to work and move on.

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Reply 98

sorry to hear the mental health assessment didn't go well, we're not doing great in terms of mental health provision as a country are we :console:

i remember you mentioning something about living next year with your flatmates, i assume that went out the window?

Reply 99

OP