books-and-bothers

[books-and-bothers]

2023-02-18

I’m not sure when I started the pattern of monthly updates, but it feels like a good enough timespan for things to actually happen that I can write about.

The last two exams went surprisingly well, and once again I have two new courses with a varying amount of work needed.

The first one has a bunch of short assignments that I’ve been trying to finish as early as possible, which has worked pretty well so far. I could do them according to the schedule, but there’s also a big essay on like 10 pages due at the end of March- and the thing is, the second course also has an essay on 10 pages due the same week.

I’m trying to get a headstart on at least one of them so I won’t collapse with stress, because I also have a bunch of things going on at the same time with work and trying to start a student council in my department.

Not gonna lie- kind of stressful. But if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s planning ahead.

[books-and-bothers]

2023/01/15

Happy belated new year! I have just spent the entire week in the library and actually accomplished stuff. I got two assignments done, not just on time, but early! EARLY! I’ll be damned.

Still only had about one day off before two new courses begin tomorrow, but I took the liberty of not forcing myself to study on Christmas or new years which I believe was a pretty smart decision in the end. The student union at my university is campaigning for an official winter break between the fall and spring term with no assignments, and I honestly wonder why it hasn’t been implemented yet.

Anyway, good term, university job’s going great and getting even better, I’m also gonna meet with the student union tomorrow about starting up an official local student council at my institution. Many exciting things to come very soon.

[books-and-bothers]

2022/11/08

Two courses done and two more to come!

I somehow managed to get both assignments done right on time, so I can finally put them both behind me. I’m also finally tackling my reading-for-fun list while the next part of term is getting started, The secret history by Donna Tartt is first in line. I definitely understand all the praise it gets, it’s the sort of book I’d like to write one day.

Anyway, since it’s getting darker yet darker up north and nothing is happening for a while I’m gonna attempt to get a real good headstart on all my schoolwork before Christmas stress sets in.

I’ve also applied for a second job, at my university. Student representative babeyy, paid position and everything! Let’s hope I’m not getting in over my head.

[books-and-bothers]

2022/10/23

We love an inconsistent poster on this blog!

It’s not without excuses though. It’s currently Sunday and during the next week I’m gonna have TWO examinations! Ain’t that wonderful.

Even better is they’re totally different, and the tables have turned a bit. The easy course has a really long and difficult essay due next Sunday, while the difficult course has a really easy open-book test for a few hours on Friday. It’s not too fun and I’ll be real glad to be rid of then both. Soon…

[books-and-bothers]

2022/09/25

Good evening from a difficult week. Course number 1, history of education, is really fun so far! Scientific theory aka course number 2, not so much.

Having two courses every other week isn’t necessarily a bad idea and I suppose it’s efficient for the faculty, but if one course requires maybe 3 hours of preparing for seminars that are generously spaced out during the week, and the other requires 12 hours of preparation with little time to spare between lectures... well it’s clearly not the most sustainable planning. Thankfully they’re both done in a month.

Attended a job searching seminar this month to try and figure out how the hell I’m supposed to manage the job market once I’m done, which made everything feel a bit too real and daunting and I just want to hole up in a cozy nook with some books and embroidery and put life on pause for a while.

For now though, I’ll hole up in a cozy nook and study.

#personal #studyblr #university

[books-and-bothers]

2022/09/01

Happy autumn! I have officially finished my first week of the master’s program in education, and it’s gone surprisingly smooth. It feels a bit strange to start over again right after I finished my bachelor’s, but I’m looking forward to see what the future holds.

Though we are, unfortunately, doing dual courses the whole term. Meaning one course every other week and another one in between. And they’re clearly at different levels of difficulty. Nevertheless, I’m staying positive and doing my best to keep up.

I’ve been reading some lovely classics during the summer, specificslly Jules Verne. If you want to read something adventurous that is entertaining, deep and just well-written in general, I recommend him.

#especially recommend Around the world in 80 days #and #Twenty thousand leaugues under the seas #studyblr #personal

[books-and-bothers]

Oh hey, happy summer! I got accepted to my dream program

#guess I’m getting a master’s in education now! #studyblr #university #personal

[books-and-bothers]

2022/05/23

I fucking did it. I’m done. I’m physically melting into a puddle as we speak. Wrote until the last possible minute but I. Did. It. Let’s go.

#handed in my thesis two minutes til deadline lol #we love a last minute queen bee

[books-and-bothers]

2022-05-16

Oh, past me from the end of April, you have no idea what was coming for you..

And by what I mean extreme stress about not writing enough pages and also a huge apartment crisis that takes about 30 phone calls and 8 weeks to fix. Perfect timing.

I have exactly one week left to write, and about half of the pages I need. What a week it’s gonna be. Like I’ll get it done, but we’ll see if I’m still alive come summer lol.

Here’s a good tip for you: If you feel stressed about your upcoming essay, don’t waste an entire day looking at Eurovision videos and Dracula daily posts! I don’t know what came over me, but it sure as hell wasn’t motivation.

Anyway. Positive update this time next week, hopefully

#personal

[books-and-bothers]

20/04/2022

Well here I am again, persevering. Let’s summarize my progress since my last update:

I started writing for real, which is good. I also doubted my ability to write anything for most of it. I’ve currently ended up with 5 of the circa 30 pages I need, minus a good amount of analysis preparation notes and a head start on the source list. All things considered, I’m in a decent place right now.

I also had my first official meeting with my advisor, which went really well. I’d been feeling kind of stuck regarding my analysis but now I got some answers on how to begin. We’re also gonna have a class seminar tomorrow to discuss each other’s texts and give constructive criticism. I would be nervous but I already know that me and my classmates are on the same page, and they give really good advice because of it.

I hope I’ll get further by the next update though. I’m the sort of student who has a bit of a problem getting started on things, and without the smaller consistent deadlines we get I would be in a lot of trouble.

#studyblr #university #personal

[books-and-bothers]

29/03/2022

A summarized update because my head is spinning with things to do: I have finally started writing my bachelor thesis, my last exam also went great despite me not being very confident in it and running out of time AGAIN, and I got my dream summer job as a guide at a museum and I get to dress up as a historical figure and teach people about education in the 1800s! Yay!

That is all for now. I’m sure I’ll flee to this blog as soon as I get stuck in my work progress, so you’ll hear from me soon enough.

#personal

[books-and-bothers]

07/03/2022

Once again I’m writing to you from the hindisght of a confusing essay result. Remember that essay I mentioned in my last post? The one I wasn’t sure if it was actually going to pass or not? I, uh, got a B. Apparently.

Still sort of reeling from the shock becuase I truly did not expect it but I’m obviously relieved it worked out as well. The most hilarious thing about it, though, is that my professor told me I kind of missed the mark on one pretty important criteria, but they still thought it was well written enough to deserve a high grade!

Maybe she was just being extra nice, or maybe I really have no idea on what level I’m actually writing since this is the same situation as last time, just opposite. Whatever, always nice to be pleasantly surprised. Today is a good day.

#university #studyblr #personal

[books-and-bothers]

02/03/2022

I recently got an essay back that I thought I did really well on, but it was marked way lower than I expected. Not gonna lie, it was a bit disappointing, especially because I was very proud of it and I thought I understood the assignment. The overall tone of the comments I got was that I had written it well but I should’ve discussed the topic even further- which is bullshit because it was emphasized that we absolutely shouldn’t write over the maximum amount of words, which wasn’t a lot! It was supposed to be a a short essay. It was really hard to write with the depth they asked for in the amount of words they gave us. Impossible standards like that are awfully frustrating.

Rant aside, I had another short examination essay to write last week which I definitely wasn’t proud of. It turned out to be way more difficult than I anticipated, and I’ll be surprised if I get a grade higher than E; it certainly wasn’t the best essay I’ve handed in. But that’s the important thing with expectations though, you have to set them realistically. I knew I didn’t have enough time to write a really good essay, so instead I made sure it was just passable. Not every assignment matters equally much, and I’m not about to work myself into a burnout just to get a high grade on something that isn’t even important. I have a good grading system to thank though, because if it wasn’t for the fact that I get the same amount of credit for a course regardless of the passing grade, I would’ve been screwed. It is a kind of luxury.

Anyway this is getting super long. Trying to make time for yourself and also staying on top of millions of responibilities is tough. But I still try.

#university #studyblr #personal

[books-and-bothers]

24/02/22 - Guess who’s back

We’re back in person again! My professor decided to have the class on campus after my university decided to gradually bring all students and faculty back over a month long period. We’re doing hybrid seminars now so anyone who needs to stay home can still participate online. I’m really happy about it.

Thesis work has begun with high gears already and I feel like I know exactly what I’m doing and like I’m completely lost at the same time. I think that’s how everyone feels about this part of the process though. Performance is a tricky thing to analyze, what with it being an ephemeral and volatile art form, so I’ve chosen a somewhat more concrete approach and subject; I decided to write about cultural policy in politics instead. Not that politics is an easy subject either, but I at least get to look at thorough documentation. But we’ll see, maybe I’ll eat my own words in a month or so.

I’m trying to learn how to document my thesis progress as well by journaling. It’s never been my thing but given my ephemeral memory bank I think it’s neccessary.

Anyway, life is hectic and also great.

#university #studyblr

[books-and-bothers]

29/01/2021

Well that didn’t last very long.

So we had an in-person introduction with my bachelor thesis group. Lovely seeing some old friends and new faces, but after discussing it we decided to keep up the zoom classes for another three weeks. I said I would be really upset if we had to go back to distanced classes but since this was a collective decision that we got to make on our own terms I’m alright with it. It’s also just three weeks anyway, surely I can deal with that.

The summer job frenzy has come early it seems, and I do not look forward to it. I’m already applying to some really nice jobs -and some seemingly not so nice, watch out for those red flags in job descriptions everybody - and I hope it gets me somewhere; getting anywhere at this point would be great.

Ps. A red flag in job listings: if the company has literally two pages dedicated to highly detailed and impossibly high standard descriptions of your expected daily performance, combined with the sentence “you will take criticism from supervisors” (not can take criticism well or something mind you, just. You will take it.)… Maybe look for something else.

#studyblr #school #university

[books-and-bothers]

14/01/2021

January is going all sorts of places currently. Two weeks ago I applied to my literal dream job as a library assistant at my university library. The job seemed too good to be true, but I got an interview. And it went great. They even said so to my face. I haven’t been able to think about anything else recently.

I knew the job was extremely coveted and there was an insane amount of applicants, but I was perfectly qualified and, you know, my application did go well. Still didn’t get it.

This is the kind of thing that just happens sometimes, but it’s always disappointing. Especially because I had a great (what I thought would be the last) day at my kindergarten job right before I got rejected. I guess I’ll keep working there for a while then, they do really want me to stay on and I like it there.

So, in summary: things are not completely shit right now; only kinda.

I’m also starting work on my bachelor’s thesis IN PERSON next week and I can’t wait.

[books-and-bothers]

27/12/2021

Christmas was beautiful and fun, now this year’s almost over.

Things have been piling up left and right but I may finally get some rest before the next term begins in mid January. Tell me why my professors for my upcoming bachelor thesis decided to put a basically nonexistent book on the syllabus tho... And the university library won’t let me borrow a copy from another university because “we have one (1) in stock”. Gonna be real fun fighting with my classmates over who gets it lol.

I had the brilliant plan to work as much as possible in december to save money, as I basically had a free schedule with my most recent course, but of course they didn’t even call me once. It’s literally the worst season for all kinds of illness and, you know, the biggest holiday of the year... But I’m apparently not needed. Whatever, I get to keep working there next year anyway. Please let me manifest a better job til next summer.

I never keep new year’s resolutions but I’m really gonna try to enroll in driving school and start working towards getting a driver’s license. Wish me luck.

#studyblr #school #university