Outlets

Why are essays so stressful?! This week has been the run up to the essay period; it’s all about thinking of plans, original approaches, structures, decent phrasing, getting the ideas right and most importantly: not stressing. Well, I seem to have been ignoring the last little bit of that sentence because I really am stressing!

I think it is noteworthy in these posts to tell you honestly that the work load for second year is very different. Lots of people will say that there is a lot more to do, which is true to some degree, but I have felt that the way I have been looking at things is a lot different too. This might not be down to the fact that I am in second year now; it is just the way that the course content flows and the way that we ought to be thinking about things. I mean within various modules I am going from something very obscure and location/cultural specific all the way through to the grand narratives and theme of the period or of the question in hand – not to mention handling the way that different people have interpreted it over time, or in the present day, and what this might mean for our overall understanding of the topic and its main themes/characters/events. As well as this, I have been thinking about career prospects a fair bit this week too, because I met my mentor, Victoria, in person this week! (And it was amazing!) So, I have a fair few things rumbling around in my brain, a list of readings, 4 essays and I am one very overwhelmed student! This week it has seemed very, very difficult to focus on exactly what I need to do and think about, despite all of the many to-do lists and Post-It notes. But I do not want to use this post as a means of telling you guys how much I have been stressing! That is not the point at all. Instead I would quite like to use the post to explain how I managed to combat a little bit of the worry and the stressing!

One of my favourite ways to combat stressing is to cook and to eat, but not in the cliché ‘Oh my God! I am so stressed! Give me as much chocolate, cake and ice-cream as you can!’ (Although, when things get really tense this may be the final straw…) I cook and eat because it relaxes me and I enjoy it. When I am cooking I have to concentrate on what I’m doing – my mind cannot be somewhere else, really, as I would probably end up with something very yucky or a scorched kitchen…not good. On Thursday I had literally THE BEST tea! It sounds trivial to be discussing with you what I had for my dinner, but just cooking myself something really tasty and sitting down in the peace and quiet to enjoy it just gave me a little sense of satisfaction and a boost to keep going. On Friday I spent some time in the library after my Renaissance lecture and managed to get quite a few things done, so maybe that’s the answer: a really tasty meal solves the world’s problems. Speaking of tasty meals, then (just while I’m on topic!) My friend came over for dinner on Saturday and it was really, really lovely. I cooked a curry and bought some samosas and onion bahjis from the Saturday market in town (the market is so, so cute! It’s like having a very tiny version of Portabella Road on my doorstep; I step out of my blue door (remember my Notting Hill link a couple of posts ago?!) and I’m hit with lovely smells, the sound of people laughing and bartering and just some hustle and bustle – It’s quite nice to see that there is life outside of the uni bubble sometimes!) and we just sat and ate and chatted for a while; it was really, really nice. I love working on my studies, but things like this make me think about what else you get out of uni life – being able to have a chat (and eat!) with friends is something quite special in its own little way and it really calmed me down to take on the week ahead, as I have SO MUCH TO DO!

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to just take a step back from whatever it is you’re reading about and just do something else. And this week my ‘something else’ has been my CV and getting myself together after meeting with Victoria. We had our first meeting on Wednesday and it was incredible! The Careers Mentoring Programme co-ordinator, Claire, set up a very lovely session for everyone to attend and meet their mentors. We were given some guidance about the programme – what to expect and what sort of things we could possibly be doing with our mentors. The variety was really great, but the main message was definitely you get out what you put in. This made me think about the sorts of things I wanted to get out of the programme, but it was so scary thinking that in a couple of years I will genuinely be looking for a ‘proper job’ – aaaah! Victoria was so lovely and reassuring though! She said that she was willing to keep in contact as much as she is able to, if we contact her with anything. She seemed really keen to help with the CV, which I’m sure will be so helpful! It was really, really exciting to meet her in person and she definitely knows her stuff – wow! Any question I had she seemed to have the answer for; it was quite amazing, really. I was interested to hear what she had been up to recently in her job and the sorts of things she enjoyed doing at BBC Breakfast; it all sounds so fun! It was made quite clear that things can be pressurised and that journalism is a competitive industry, but Victoria definitely emphasised the value in the job and the sense of satisfaction when you see things run smoothly in print, or in broadcast etc. knowing that your hard work has made that happen. The way she was describing it was like something I could only dream of and I feel very privileged to be able to ask lots of questions to somebody who is living that ‘dream’ in reality. We are still working on ‘Operation Work Experience’ and this week coming up will be all about the cover letter!

Like last year, Ballet Society provides me with a bit of an outlet too. It is somewhere I can go to meet with some of the loveliest people I have met and just have a good ol’ dance and stretch for an hour or so. There was a part of me that thought I shouldn’t be wasting my time going to society meetings at the moment because I have so much to do. However, when I put it into perspective, it really is worth me going. I always feel so much better after I’ve been, plus this week we learnt the cutest little routine, ever! George, our teacher, told us that we were going to do something different and he had us all leaping and pirouetting and balancing and reaching and it was just so, so fun! I did feel a lot better afterwards!

Oh! There is something else I must, must, must mention before I conclude this week’s post! Eeeek! SCAN’s 4^th Edition was printed this week and my article was in it; I had a by-line and everything! I don’t think I have smiled so much in a long time! There was something so rewarding about seeing my words and my ideas about a topic printed in a newspaper – I’ve even kept a clipping! The topic that I reported on, the Time to Talk campaign is something really, really important to me and I am so pleased that SCAN offers an accessible platform for people to read and learn about these ideas, because they are so, so, relevant for us as a student body. I have been working on a short piece for this week too, which has been rather exciting. Writing is actually a really good outlet for me too, especially this blog because I can just be myself and have any of my (very frequent) little stresses with you guys. Sometimes it can be better to just write down where you’re struggling and let it out. When I’ve written it down and put it into perspective it gives me some grasp on what to do about the workload and how to achieve the goals I have set myself.

So, this week coming up is all about keeping my head in the books and keeping focussed on what I need to do! Writing and finalising essays is one of the most challenging and most rewarding things that I have to do as a student, and I want to do the titles some justice. I know the most effective ways to destress now, but the aim of having these outlets is for me to be able to create my best work and to help me work efficiently and enjoy my time doing it. So, the kettle’s on, the notes are out and the pen is poised – let’s go!
Have a lovely week, everyone – thank you for reading about my little stresses!

History hugs,

Eleanor