As I write this I have
eighteen word documents opened on my desktop. Eighteen documents that are
filled with dissertation chapters, notes regarding FBI Files, researched
focused on news articles from 1952-65 and countless chapter outlines and random
notes.
Yes, it’s that time of
the year. It’s a time when dissertations need to be written, re-written,
re-re-written, edited and bound. It is also the time of year when exams need to
be revised for and the future needs to be thought about extensively. I guess you
can say that it is pretty busy time of year.
Some days I have
massive freak-outs about not finishing my dissertation on time or not managing
to revise everything I need to revise (my friends can testy for this). Other
days however, I feel as calm(ish) as you like, as though I have everything
under control. But I don’t have
everything under control. Yes, I have my work and revision under control but
the future is anything but controlled. I have no idea what I’ll be doing in
three months time other than the fact that I will not be a student anymore.
It’s ok though because
everything works out, you just have to deal with one thing at a time. I need to
finish my dissertation first – one paragraph at a time. I then need to revise –
one topic at a time. While doing all of this I need to look and apply for jobs
– one day at a time.
If I look at the big
picture I freak out so much that I become paralysed with fear and dread of not
having my life sorted to the tee. This is the first time in my life when I have
had no clue what’s coming up next. From birth you know the score, you go to
nursery, primary school, secondary school and eventually university but nobody
tells you what to do next, which is freeing but also terrifying.
I’ve written before
about how my personality and interests confuse me immensely so you can imagine
how difficult it is for me to decide what type of job I’d like to apply for.
It’s a crazy time right now with everything going on but as one of our
lecturers stated last week, when in times of panic just – relax, focus and
execute. This is the best piece of advice I think I’ve ever been given.
When you relax,
everything is so much better and everything becomes easier. If I sit down at my
desk to start writing and I am stressed then my work will be harder to complete
and most definitely won’t be of such a high standard. Whereas if I’m relaxed,
2000 words seems like a doddle to write in a few hours and all the points I’m
making are valid, interesting and original. My work is better, I feel better
and life is better because of it.
Therefore, I’ve
decided to write a list of things that I want to focus on over the next four
weeks of Easter break.
- Relax. Focus. Execute
- Be happy – you’re allowed to enjoy life. Not everything has to be a struggle as you once believed.
- Exercise but don’t over do it. Try yoga instead of killing yourself with Insanity and intensive cardio everyday. Enjoy your hour away from everything.
- Read. Read. Read. Read. Not university books but books for pleasure. Read as many as you can in the evenings after a long day of revision and dissertation writing. Read to escape but also read to learn how to be a better writer.
- Take days off and go on trips with your family and friends. Don’t say no because you have to revise. You can’t revise all day every day. Take the weekends off. Learn from your past mistakes of trying to revise every single day of the week and learn to love life.
- Understand that you need to work hard but that there is also more to life than work. Listen to your lecturers and TAKE DAYS OFF AND DO NO WORK WHATSOEVER AND DON’T FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT.
- Keep calm and relax because you’re a better and nicer person as a result of it and you deserve to be your best for you and to those around you.
- Don’t spend time hating on yourself. Please. Please. Please, learn to love or at least like yourself.
-
Enjoy it.
This is your last exam period as an undergrad. Wohoooooo!
I don't think I've ever liked Emmett Sullivan so much. You've got this Lisa!!
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