Hobbies and Exams

I like many people, am experiencing the dreaded examination period at its fullest.

Due to the fact that this virus has pushed all of our tests online, the tests themselves will be significantly harder as they have now been adjusted to the open-book format. Open-book essentially means that you will be expected to critique more as well as just generally using your own analyses to a greater extent due to the fact that you have all of the information laid out in front of you. For this reason, such tests tend to be more difficult for me. I have been studying like a demon, lately and I will continue to do so until the exam period is over. This has unfortunately meant that I have had to put many of my hobbies aside in order to study. This is understandable and important to do but sad nonetheless.

One of these hobbies has been writing. I don’t know if you, the reader, have noticed (unless of course you are new here, in which case- welcome!) but I have not been as active on this platform as I should be. It has just gotten to that stage in which even writing a single post once a week has been challenging time-wise. I haven’t even been able to watch any of the new season of The Politician on Netflix because of my cray schedule. Now that is just plain old sad.

Considering this, however, I find writing to be really good for my mental health. No matter how much I have to study, I also have to take care of said mental health. It is for this reason that I will be writing here more frequently. Writing on my blogs is really important to me and I should make it more of a priority in my life. If I can stay active on YouTube through all of this, surely I can stay active on The Bluebird Circle as well.

Do comment your thoughts on this, I am open to hearing any advice on the matter.

Take care of yourselves.

-Birdie

Loneliness and Quarantine

I think we all miss somebody, be it friend or family.

I know personally that I miss my friends in particular. All of this brings me back to that time between high school and university when I just felt extremely lonely (I wrote a past post about that so feel free to check that out). I don’t feel lonely on nearly the same scale as I did then but yesterday it all started to hit me. I just wanted to discuss this today.

I think that I miss the small things like getting iced coffee with my friends or hanging out with them in our respective dorm rooms. I suppose that some of the loneliness comes from a lack of normalcy in life, a change in routine and custom. I have been trying to think of ways to combat this feeling and I have come up with a few solutions. The first thing may seem obvious but video call your friends, I mean actually video call them. It’s the next best thing to actually seeing them in person. Playing some of the songs that you guys commonly enjoy and that remind you of nights out or times spent hanging out could help to establish the mindset that you are still enjoying those activities and could help to bring back memories of better times. Lastly, I would recommend creating a new routine and sticking to it. This will bring back a sense of normalcy and routine to your everyday life and may help you cope with the effects of quarantine.

These have been a couple of my tips to combat loneliness during quarantine. I have a bunch of other tips so be sure to comment if you’d like me to write a sequel to this post!

Good luck.

-Birdie

Moving Back

So my study space at home got pulled out from under me.

This had its benefits, however, and it meant that I was able to move back to my student residency so that I had a calm space to study in. The plan is to go back home on weekends while staying here during the week. Being back here has been an experience.

I no longer have this massive outdoors space within which to walk and picnic. I have countered this seemingly negative situation by doing indoor exercises to keep me fit. I found this workout challenge on Pinterest (yes, I still use Pinterest, sue me) and I must say, it has been working for me so far. I also make my own small indoor picnics by putting a blanket on my floor and enjoying my space. Since I’ve been making my own food as well, I am able to eat my meals whenever I wish. This has been a major plus.

I have been working on self-improvement. I have found myself feeling rather depressed lately (depression is something I tend to struggle with a lot) and so I decided to make changes to my diet and general lifestyle. I think that actually taking the time to workout every morning has also improved my mental state. Being back here has forced me to be healthy because I don’t have as great an access to the nearest store. I count this as a pro because health is something that I need to work on and this is a great opportunity to get going on that front.

Being back at my student residency has been very calming. It is a less chaotic environment than home is. I am actually able to study well in this environment and I fee as though my marks will reflect this. I am so happy to have my study space back and to be able to act out all my weird quirks that help me to study. My work life is thriving here. Here’s to hoping that this continues.

Stay home, folks.

–Birdie

Home vs. Residency

I have been living at home for the past few months but last week I was able to go back to my res for a couple of day (res=student commune for you non-locals).

I must say, living at res certainly beats living at home. It is calmer there, I am able to prepare my own food at whatever time I like and I have my own workspace. The only thing I would miss from being home is the massive garden within which I can take study breaks. The only issue is that I am not allowed to move back into res on account of my parent’s rules. Yes, I am 19 and yes, I still listen to my parents. We all have our cross to bear. The situation only grows more dire as soon the one appropriate study space within which I can get some privacy is going to be taken away from me. This is because we live at a school and the students are coming back next week Monday. Since I am not allowed to go back to my res, I shall have to study in a noisier, more chaotic environment. If there is any update to me finding a new study space, I will be sure to tell you.

I guess I just feel stuck in a chaotic environment. Things are always changing here. Not to mention that as soon as lockdown regulations allow us, we will be moving into a new place to live. There is just something about this entire situation that doesn’t sit well with me, I guess. I stated in a previous blog that I am going to practice gratitude while staying at home and I will/do, it just gets a little hard when everything is swept out from under you. I just have to endure this life until lockdown ends but I can assure you that it’s a struggle. I realise, once again, that this is a “first-world problem” but does it being this do anything to make me feel better about it? That’s a solid no. Nevertheless, I shall persist and try to make the best out of the situation at hand. Let’s just hope that this works out for me.

Keep staying alive.

-Birdie

The Perks of Online Learning

We are going to be stuck in this cycle of online learning for a while, so we might as well find the good in it.

Online learning has its challenges and we hear about these challenges every day through social media. There are major challenges such as access to resources or lack thereof and concentration issues. I feel as though there are some perks to online schooling, however, and so I wish to share with you the perks that I have discovered during the past two weeks of online learning.

The first is that I can increase the playback speed of my online pre-recorded video lectures. I have this one English lecturer who “um”s and “ah”s her way through lectures at a painfully slow rate. In this case I like to slightly increase the speed of my lectures, not so much that she sounds like a chipmunk but just fast enough that the lecture is less painful. I can’t do this in physical lectures so it is a blessing to have figured this out. The second perk is that I can make my own schedule. Sure, some lectures are live and so I have to attend them in the allocated time slots but some are pre-recorded and pre-uploaded so I can access the content at any time I wish. This is especially useful when I have class clashes. I can do the one class in the allocated time slot and the other class beforehand. I also don’t have to travel to classes on different sides of campus because I can access them all just sitting at my desk. I also don’t have to walk to school (although I do miss those walks tbh), cutting my travel time down to zero. I can eat during class which is a blessing during classes that take place around lunch and breakfast time. I can have a full meal just sitting at my desk in front of my classes. The final perk I have noticed is that I can do things like playing my ukulele or baking in between classes as a break. I wouldn’t have been able to do this while on campus so it makes a nice change.

These are the perks that I have noticed during my short time being at online university. I am not otherwise able to enact these perks on my physical campus so it makes for a nice change of scenery/pace. Feel free to comment any perks of your own in the comment section!

Stay groovy.

-Birdie

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My Study Space

My study space is the one thing keeping me sane during this crazy time.

My study space is the one place where I get to be alone. It lies in a room just outside the main home area. I have two aesthetically-pleasing watercolour paintings up against the wall in front of my desk to inspire me. I reckon that they do a pretty good job at that. The wall in front of my desk is full of pink and purple sticky notes carrying information from my readings and my Macbeth notes so that I have them right in front of me when attending class and writing tests. I have my space case and highlighters on one side of my desk and my water bottle, peach-shaped squishy and weekly planner on the other side. My desk is parallel to a window so at around 2 PM, the sun likes to shine on my desk, creating a warm environment. I keep a blanket on the chair of my desk and I always have my K-pop or Lo-Fi Hip-Hop playing.

Overall, this is a good place to study. It’s all very aesthetically-pleasing and I have really made the space my own. Of course it’s not as great as my usual space because I spent a year cultivating that space but for the time being, this space isn’t too bad. There’s just something about the sun filtering through onto my work that just puts me in a good mood. I just wanted to share what my study space was like in the hopes that it sparks the imagination of others. I love hearing about the study spaces of others so why not share my own? This is a good place to study and get down to work. It is the only place where I can be myself.

Enjoy your day!

-Birdie

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Keeping Up with Uni Work

Online learning is a moment.

I realised today that I had totally miscalculated and so missed 1 hour of a 2 hour class. It’s not the end of the world as it was an introductory class but I think that it serves as an example of how confusing all of this online work can be. If this kind of thing were to happen in a test setting I would honestly die (emotionally). I’ve made triple sure of not missing anything by writing down all of my test and assignment dates on my mum’s calendar. Let’s bring her down with me why don’t we? Just kidding but for real, it’s good to have an extra layer of protection against the possibility of accidentally missing something.

The worst thing about this whole confusing scenario is that it’s no one’s fault. There’s no one to blame. Lecturers are doing the best with what’s available to them and the university heads must be so overworked at this point. I can’t even blame myself because I am doing all that I can to be organised. I have THREE different journals for Pete’s sake! The lack of anyone to blame for this confusion just makes the situation even more frustrating.

Online learning has the perk, however, of being able to be worked from at one’s own pace. Except for obvious deadlines, I can centre my lecture schedule around any time of the day that I want for the most part. Narrated slideshows are often uploaded the day before a lecture so I’m free to do them in the morning rather than the afternoon if I so wish. The only immovable aspect of online learning are the online discussions and live classes. This kind of perk is something to consider when analysing the pros and cons of online classes. Maybe online classes won’t be so bad after all…

Keep learning!

-Birdie

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First Day of Online University

I’ve only had two classes today but somehow I am beyond exhausted. I have no idea how or why but I just am.

Today has been really great in the sense that I had an official goal for today, like set classes and work that I had to do. I really missed that, as crazy as that sounds. I guess that I’m exhausted because while I only had two classes, I had a bunch of work that I had to do relating to those classes and other classes. It was such a good day for productivity, I am SO stoked.

It was really weird to take part in classes online. It more about discussion forums rather than zoom meetings, we don’t do those thank the gods. Let’s be real about online uni though, it’s kind of super stressful. I mean there’s no one there to keep you on track and you’ve got to stay super up to date in order not to miss anything important. Not to mention that I’ve got to do this for 5 classes, not just one. The whole process is just insane and hard to keep track of. Hopefully though, this only lasts for a couple more months. Wait. That’s not a good thing.

Be that as it may I am grateful that I can get any schooling done at all. Like, I actually have the resources to learn online? That’s like the definition of privilege. I think as much as I’d like to complain about online learning in terms of data costs and keeping on top of things, a little perspective goes a long way. I feel as if I keep having to remind myself of that but its a good exercise. Here’s to hoping that coronageddon does not last too long.

Good luck, y’all.

-Birdie

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Online Learning

Since I don’t have actual uni to look forward to, I have to settle for online uni.

I for one, am nervous for online uni to begin. I guess my fear stems from the potential for missing out on certain tests or tasks that would cost me marks because of missing a single email. This is a very real fear for me. I also feel that all the fun of university has been snatched away. This is a reality, though that keeps us safe and so I am somewhat grateful for it. Online learning will be an interesting opportunity to observe whether or not I thrive in online schooling compared to physical schooling. At the end of the day I’m just grateful for online learning to rescue me from potential boredom and lethargy. At least it helps me to differentiate between which days are which.

I have received online schedules for three of my subjects so far which being out of five subjects, makes me wonder when the rest of my subjects are going to let me know WTF is happening. I’m sure though, that those organising the subjects are under a lot of pressure right now and so I appreciate what they are able to let out. I just want an end to this grey area.

There are some perks to online schooling, however. I can listen to music while doing my coursework, I don’t have to walk to uni everyday and I can do things at almost my own pace. That is a plus. It just feels so strange that I won’t be able to go back to physical uni until around September (at least, that’s what people are estimating). I feel as though I’m losing half a year of my university experience and that just does not compute in my mind. Let’s just hope that online schooling works out for me.

Stay groovy.

-Birdie

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Lockdown With Me: Jane Austen

I’ve started reading Emma (again) and I am just loving it (because I’m obsessed). I am, however, facing a difficulty. It is super hard to get through. I’ve done it before but my struggle is doing it again and the worst part is that I struggled through it the first time but I just didn’t LEARN. What is it about Jane Austen that is so brilliant but so difficult to get through at a decent pace?

I wanted to finish reading Emma as well as Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray before lockdown ceases but at this rate I’ll be impressed if I can even get halfway through Emma by then. I just have to remind myself that as long as I finish it eventually it is enough. This self-care thing is hard!

Besides my Jane Austen adventures, I’ve been updating my bullet journal and studying. It’s not very exciting but you’ve got to admit, that there is some wholesome activity. Mental health wise, today has been a pretty good day. I’ve just been as productive as possible and I feel as if my mind is actually beginning to comprehend the idea that I can actually be proud of myself. Since the start date for uni has been pushed back, I’ve had to update by bujo (bullet journal) several times just to keep updated with everything that’s been going on and all the dates that have been rearranged. It’s been a pretty intense process. Studying for uni has been a breeze because I literally have all the time in the world to get it done. Overall, I’m in a pretty stress-free environment at the moment and that is such an improvement from where I was this time last year.

Here’s to hoping that I can keep this up (and finish reading Emma)!

-Birdie

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