Still Alive and Kickin' (Juliet)

I promise I’m still alive! These past two months of life have just been more hectic than I imagined. However, I do have a valid excuse (sort of). I’ve been in the process of moving from my previous accommodation to new accommodation, and I hadn’t really anticipated how much it would cost me both physically and emotionally. Sure it’s exciting to move to a new place, but it’s also incredibly stressful, draining and hard. No one can really prepare you for it, I guess it’s because everyone’s situation is inevitably different.

And here’s the thing. It suddenly hits you in the midst of movement that all the little things you took for granted are absent or different now. And that a piece of you is still attached to the old place and the old way of life. Things will never be the same again because you chose to strike down this path, feet-first and heart-in-toy. There are things that sadden and gladden you in unexpected ways. And for me, this month, I think I came to value what I didn’t value or appreciate before: the feelings of home and plain good planning.

But as the trees on campus turn to their brilliant golden hue and my pesky cold is clearing up, I think I’ve gained a brighter perspective of the everyday and of the future. My mind is sweeping off some of the cobwebs that lay hidden in the dark recesses. Still, I can’t believe the semester’s nearly at an end and it’s May already. Time as a first year uni student has flown past, and I’ve realised within a blink of an eye that I’m already halfway through the academic year. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this first semester. There have certainly been moments when I wish I hadn’t procrastinated and also moments when I wished I’d listened more carefully in that one part of the lecture. With my first round of Uni exams just around the corner, I admit I’m nervous and also shockingly unprepared. So much content, so little time. But I guess I’m going to have to tackle it somehow; as the generations have done before me. It’s definitely crunch-time at this point.

For those of you still reading this, I want to wish you all the best for any upcoming assessment that you may have, or anything that life throws at you really. And if you have a chance, do go bask in this glorious Autumn sunshine. I guarantee the warmth, company and extra Vitamin D will be an instant refresher of the soul and mind for studying. I certainly felt that way this week.

(Juliet)