Considering I'm nearing the end of the second semester of my second year in university, I thought, 'what could be more appropriate than a blog post dedicated to some of the things I've learned this year as a second year student?' And you know what I did? Well, I did just that and wrote down five things/lessons that I've learned in my second year of university.
1 | Use Your Voice
Don't just go with the flow. Speak up, be confident in your words and be opinionated. You have a voice, now use it. This lesson has stemmed from a myriad of things such as my management class wherein we're basically forced to speak our opinion and interpret the previous week's lecture topic in our own words, right on the spot, to saying no to suggestions or events that I'm simply not interested in.
It's okay to say no. It's okay to have views that differ from your peers. It's okay because, thankfully, you won't get persecuted for it. Well, not in the Jesus sense, that is...
2 | Patience is a Virtue
There's a thing called karma. Now, I'm not aware of any empirical evidence concerning the matter, but given how deeply embedded the word is within our vernacular, I'd say the concept has at least some credibility.
But I digress. I'm an impatient person. Incredibly impatient. I can't stand to watch someone deliberate over what they want to get from McDonald's and I especially can't wait around for some line to diminish. What even is a line? However, I'm also good at hiding such impatience. This year, I've learned that patience truly is a virtue because if you ever so much as to shake your head in disapproval, nothing will ever come of it.
Perhaps this point would make sense if I give it a bit of context. This semester in particular, I had to deal with two of the most irresponsible, unorganised, and frankly, most careless group members I'd ever encountered in my academic career. To keep this brief, I had to put in double, if not triple, the amount of effort into our 15 page report. But because I was able to be patient with my group members, because I never once lashed out, I was able to reap the benefits of having my mark raised due to my efforts.
3 | Hard Work Truly Pays Off
I know I bang on about this quite a lot, but that's only because I've never heard of anything more true. This links with the fact that you mustn't let your passions die; that you mustn't see to a dangerous path of inconsistency, negativity and self-doubt. If you work for something, if you're continually reminded of your passions (I watch 24 Hours in A&E and that's more than enough to get me motivated), you'll receive the results that you deserve.
4 | Knowledge Really is Power
The sort of knowledge I gained this year was an especially pivotal moment in my life. Again, I know I bang on about this quite a lot but this year, I got to have a taste of what actual neuroscience is. In my first year of university, I'd only taken the mandatory psychology units as part of the neuro major, and that, to a certain extent, hadn't fulfilled my craving for well, knowing what on earth that 1.5 kg blob of matter is inside our heads.
I get really excited whenever I see anything that contains the prefix 'neuro', whether it be neuroscience, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, neurophysiology, neurobiology, whatever it may be, I'm instantly intrigued and ready to learn about it. In fact, I'm constantly reading up on the latest discoveries, articles, blog posts, and advancements in the field of neuroscience and neurosurgery where I get embarrassingly excited about it and won't stop thinking about it because I need to expel all my thoughts upon an unfortunate soul who has to listen to my ramblings.
This definitely explains why I become incredibly offended upon viewing the first episode of Season 2 of Stranger Things whereupon a science teacher was talking about the wonders of the brain in front of a seemingly uninterested class of children. How rude!
5 | You Can't Always be a Stone-Cold B*tch
I give off a bubbly, cheery and giggly exterior but on the inside, I'm anything but (of course with friends it's a genuine feeling). Most of the time, anyway. Indifference isn't something you wish to always possess, but in some ways I feel it compensates for the anxious thoughts I have about everything else in my life. It's like the indifference is my brain's way of minimising the amount of things to be stressed about (if that makes any sense at all).
Perhaps this is why I'm good at hiding my impatience? Perhaps it's my way of not scaring people off? Who knows. But what I do know is that it's nice to let down your guard a bit every now and then. It's nice to show people that you care. I'm going to take a rather personal example here, but ever since my mum's cholecystectomy, something within me just switched because nowadays, I want to show her that I actually do care and that I am actually appreciative of everything both she and my dad have done/do for me.
It's why a couple of nights ago I just walked into her room and gave her a hug.
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I've learned a lot of things this past year, many of which I've not been able to write down in this very post as it would be rather difficult (and cumbersome) to examine and file through all the thoughts I've had concerning the matter. I've enjoyed, for the most part, the experiences of which 2017 has offered me in terms of my academic career (personal life is a bit questionable) and I've enjoyed all the opportunities that have arisen; all the opportunities that I have actually taken instead of ignored like how I normally would.
I'm terrified about my future, but let's just get through yet another round of exams, shall we?
Stressed out and wanting to binge-eat chocolate coated Digestives,
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