What an exciting week! So much has been happening around campus with the General Election and I’ve had quite a lot to do in terms of revision and finalising my enrolment for next year. It’s all go, go, go, but it’s been really worth while taking some time to catch up with myself by doing some baking and speaking to my friends and family too.

So, I must, must, must open this post by mentioning the General Election! It was my first time voting and it was weirdly exciting; it felt so strange as I waited in the queue at the polling station to think that the votes we were casting really did matter. I mean, speaking to some people, they would argue that your one vote will make only a marginal difference, but the fact that these votes will make even that slightest difference is really important. I have loved the buzz around campus during the election, there are some seriously active student politicians and it’s interesting to see how dedicated people are to the party campaigns. The political activity in our student kitchen has been equally vibrant – I think we have had updates and mini-debates most evenings! Personally, I feel there have been some really important points raised that I wouldn’t have even thought about, and it’s been great to learn why and how other people think about the way that we live in our society.

Actually, these mini debates have been accompanied on several occasions by large slabs of carrot cake! You may recall in my last post, I said that I would be making a carrot cake on Bank Holiday Monday? Well, I did and it was absolutely ginormous! In my attempt to find a recipe that used the size cake tin I own, I ended up making a triple layered cake…It was so huge! Excitingly there was just enough batter to make some cupcakes too! We have had carrot cake on tap this week; it’s been wonderful (I feel the extra calories are essential during revision period) I have really enjoyed sitting down for a quick natter with a slice of cake; it grounds me when I have my head in the hazy world of revision.

I guess a paragraph of this week’s post must go to revision then! Aaaah! It’s so odd getting back into the revision routine. As a student it’s so easy to sit down and gather ridiculous piles of notes, draw tables and mind maps using pretty pens, or just to go through textbooks and note down the key information. However, it is really about taking the chance to relax and genuinely take in the information. There have been several times this week, where I have done a couple of hours’ worth of revision, taken an extended break and then returned to re-read my notes and think ‘what on Earth is this?’ Having a solid exam revision technique is something difficult to master, but I have realised that I need to take some time to get everything together in terms of content and then spend a decent period of time thinking about how I can construct some really neat, coherent and cogent arguments out of this information. I must admit, I am finding it difficult sometimes. There are occasions where I wake up and I think ‘Oh, revision today…’, and there are some days where I feel pretty ready and raring to go. But, uni is about overcoming these difficulties, by learning how to deal with them. I really hope that I can use this period to really learn how to revise effectively and how to overcome a little bit of that exam fear.

Passing my exams seems even more important now, because I have finally finalised my modules for second year and a little bit of third year. Eeek! I am so, so, so excited! We’re very lucky here at Lancaster to be able to tailor a degree scheme that works for us, so I have chosen modules that are really important to me as an historian in training! I am particularly looking forward to dealing with some material sources in the new courses, as this is the aspect of historiography that really matters to me. These sources have played such an important part in the way that we have constructed history and their part is substantial in the way that we will write about events, but beyond that they are a part of history in their own right. I’m looking forward to learning how crucial they are in shaping the periods of history that I’ll be looking at. I am really privileged to be studying areas that matter to me, so I hope to make the most of them!

Speaking of things that really matter, I am in the process of signing up for the career mentoring programme that I mentioned briefly in the last post. If I’m successful in the application, I will hopefully get an opportunity to work with somebody experienced in the career area I’m interested in, which would be an absolutely incredible and, not to mention, invaluable experience. The application process was kind of cool, it was an opportunity to express which sorts of areas I’m interested in pursuing and it’s not very often that we’ll get opportunities to that. I just hope that the application was okay; it’s scary because the programme is competitive but nowhere near as competitive as the careers market. It’s probably really good practice! (Well, I hope it is!)

So, that’s the work side of things for this week! And they have definitely taken up most of my time! The fact that the uni have offered some more study space has been really beneficial in helping me to get the most out of my study sessions. It’s nice to escape my bedroom sometimes and (probably more importantly) the whispering of my bed and cosy pillows when I’m feeling a little sleep… However, our house have decided to take some time out together, which is always fab! We had a landing party on Friday evening, which is basically a group of teenagers sitting on a landing, just talking and laughing about anything and everything. To some it may sound boring, but it is absolutely wonderful! It’s lovely to take some time out of revision, just to chat. We all headed to the pizza restaurant on campus on Saturday evening too for some well-deserved chill out time and some tasty food, yay!

So, I still have my head in the books, but it’s nice to come up for air (and food) on occasion. And also setting my sites a little bit beyond the realms of a textbook is proving that definite incentive to do well.

Thank you for reading, guys! I hope you had a lovely week!

History Hugs,

Eleanor :0)