Sunday 12th June

As of the 6th of June, my degree ended! I worked out I need to get a minimum of 43% for my EMA and seeing as I submitted both assignments within the word limit, I imagine I would get more than that. Which means I'm expecting a pass 2 for this module and if I get that, then I'm in with a good chance of graduating with a first (goal #1)!  The graduation ceremony booking opens some time in July so I may be able to attend a ceremony near the end of this year too (goal #2).  Can't wait to strike those off my list!

Goal #3 of getting a full time grad job is on the backburner for now. I'm going to spend the summer enjoying my free time before getting invested in job searching again. Which means I've been investing time in my hobbies and in to my little side business (goal #6 & #7). I did do a little bit of reading recently, but I will push myself to do more now I have some more free time. 

Sunday 28th May

Sadly things didn't go too well with the interview. I was extremely nervous for a start, but they didn't ask me about myself or why I applied which kind of threw me off and gave me a bad vibe. It's a charity but they didn't care why I applied or try to identify if I had passion for the charity or not? They asked 9 long, convoluted questions, none of which I was prepared for. Each question had like 2 or 3 underlying parts to it that you had to remember and think through and I just couldn't think straight. I think it's largely because I'm a little exhausted from the EMA, I've not been in a good head space as of late so I felt like my mind was blank, as well as the nerves. Either way, shortly after it ended, I felt that if they offered me the job, I would've refused because I got a bad vibe from the interviewers. They weren't personable or chatty at all. It wasn't a two way conversation, more of a grilling of myself and asking me questions I felt I wouldn't have known unless I was trained. I also got the impression that you have high case loads and are hounded every minute of the day with phone calls and I felt that I wouldn't have liked that, especially for the pay. So yeah, it wasn't a very good interview experience and it made me feel pretty awful for some time afterwards, but I'm feeling a bit better now.

For my EMA, I have completed the first essay, I think I got to about 1900 words (and I'm making sure to back them up with Google Drive. I can't imagine the thought of losing them suddenly!). It's essentially a draft because I plan on going back through it if I have the time. I wanted to get started with the second essay though first. I planned more for my second essay and I feel it's turned out stronger than the first one. But I'm trying not to let it bother me too much, I know that just submitting two assignments, even if I feel they aren't the best quality will be enough to pass. I worked out that the absolute minimum I can get to still get a pass 2 in the module is 43%, a score I've never had so I'm feeling confident that I can get this 1st which is my number one goal! I've reached approximately 1000/2000 words for the second assignments, so I'm sort of 3/4 of the way through them now. I can't wait to finish!

I'm going to do some cross stitching now to relax before bad and work tomorrow. I started watching Vampire Diaries for some reason, so now I go to bed and do cross stitching whilst watching that  I've also started watching the new season of Stranger Things  I have been wanting to continue playing my fave game (and start a new one after that) but I just feel either too tired or guilty when I do anything other than my assignments! Can't wait for that guilt to go with the end of this module! I look forward to getting platinum for that game and maybe doing a cross stitch related to it in future  <3

Sunday 15th May

Still working towards goal #1, I've been working on my two EMA assignments, plodding along hoping I can get them both done on time. This is a hard slog to get through, I kind of feel like I'll fall at the last hurdle but I'm hoping that won't happen. I'm aiming to get the first one done this week so then I have a couple of weeks to write the second one. I have about 890/2000 jumbled words (well one paragraph) down so far for the first assignment.

For goal #3, I've actually got an interview on Friday! I kind of can't believe it. I was looking at jobs, I saw one that seemed interesting but I was feeling anxious so put it off, but I ended up coming back to it and thought I'd just go for it. The job posting hasn't closed yet, I was expecting it to close at the end of the month so then I could do an interview and get started around June time. But they emailed me the following day asking what hours I was interested in and then I was invited for an interview the following day, like 2.5 weeks early! I'm feeling optimistic, I think I have good experience and relevant knowledge/skills for the job, in conjunction with my degree. 

I've also been looking at graduation ceremonies (goal #2) and one opens up for booking in July for a November date. However, I believe I asked before that there's more that become available when you graduate but I'm not sure. It would be good if I could go to one in my home city and within a few months of graduating but we'll have to see what happens with that. I should focus more on my final assignments first!

I'm still kind of managing to stick to goal #7 of doing my hobbies in between uni work. I've done a fair amount this weekend, I usually give myself like an hour or two to do something I like before going to bed. Hopefully I can crack on with more assignment work tomorrow after work.

Monday 2nd May

So goal #1 is looking more promising after my final project report came back today with a distinction! I am over the moon and so happy.  I honestly didn't expect to get that score for it so I'm in shock! I have been aiming for a Pass 2 for this module but if I do well in my EMA, there's a possibility they may bump me up to a distinction which is just incredible!

For goal #3, I made an appointment with the career's service and had a good chat with the career's advisor who reassured me and said he'd send me an e-mail with a bunch of useful links, so that made me feel a bit better. I might actually chat with my aunties when I next see them about graduate interviews and stuff.

I have been making sure I'm doing a good balance of hobbies, I even completed the story line of Ghost of Tsushima which was sad and incredible, I still have so much more to do though to get to Platinum! Then I can start Kena: Bridge of Spirits which I got for my birthday.  I've been stitching more regularly and have downloaded and purchased some apps related to cross stitching which I'm enjoying. I had a uni free weekend just now which I felt I really needed as I was feeling really low on Friday. :\

Goal #9, I've not been reading that much lately. It could be because the book I'm currently reading, although it's Japanese based which I love, the content isn't really my thing. I guess nothing is stopping me from starting a new book, but I should really focus on a bed time reading routine again. Maybe I will start this evening. 

Tuesday 19th April

Things have been kind of rough at home recently, so I've been struggling to get much motivation to do anything. I have about 7 days left to do my assignment, which is about 80% complete I would say but I've got the hardest part still left to finish which is the discussion and I just can't get my head around it. The introduction is just sections from my literature review thrown together at this point. I'm not feeling very proud of my project at the moment, but I'm hoping to redeem myself in the final two essays.

I'm feeling tired and worn out and I'm looking forward to the freedom of no deadlines tbh, which is probably why I'm steering more towards my hobbies atm.

I have been spending more time on my 'business' and sorting out my social medias; I set up a Ko-Fi shop which I originally was going to delete. I have set up a pay what you want shop on there with commission information and membership tiers, not that I have much of a following for that but hey ho. I've also reinstated my fiverr just to increase side income but I don't know how successful that will turn out, but I think it's just something different to do and a bit of fun. I think it's nice to essentially be your own boss.

My creative side is really squeezing itself out of me and keeps distracting me from what work I should be doing!

Monday 11th April

Recently it was my birthday, it was a quiet and uneventful one but that's okay, I didn't really feel up to celebrating it. I got a new video game which is exciting and I plan to play that when I've finished the game I'm currently playing. I went to a car show yesterday which was something different and a good break away from everything.

I bought myself a new large, foldable frame for my cross stitch which I've been working a lot more on. I already know what I want to stitch next which will be a custom design. I've definitely got the stitching bug back which is nice. It's probably come back because I can see the end in sight of my degree, because that means more hobby time!

I had a statistics workshop today but it wasn't very helpful. I have spent most of today working on this report which is absolutely breaking me down. I feel like it's impossible at the moment but I've forced myself to sit in front of this computer all day to get something done and it's kind of veryyyy slowly forming into something, but I'm so far away from being done. But, because I've worked well today and I've not been feeling too good mentally, I'm planning on some self-care this evening which will include a Disney film and cross-stitching, so I look forward to that and I hope I can de-stress a bit because I'm definitely feeling the stress. 

I have done a small amount of reading, but not as much I should be but I've still got plenty of time to catch up on my 10 book goal this year. It will work out easier to do when I'm not perpetually stressed from uni!

Wednesday 30th March

Oh dear, I don't know where the time's gone! Not much has even happened over the past two weeks other than getting COVID and then I had time off from work. I spent that time mainly resting which was nice, but I also did some uni work (goal #1) and spent some nice time taking part in my hobbies (goal #6). I have also done a decent amount of exercise over the past couple of weeks, mainly walking more and swimming (goal #5) which is always good! The weather really helps. 

As I'm approaching the end of my degree (only two deadlines left) and in the current financial situation, I've thought more about the possibility of even beginning to search for a house this year (goal #4). The idea of everything getting more and more expensive, I worry about being able to get a graduate job and earning enough to be able to afford a mortgage on top of rising bills on my own. :\ So that's a goal that I'm not too confident I'll achieve this year but we can remain hopeful!

One goal that has slipped is reading!  I've not read much at all over the past couple of weeks, though I did read one chapter last night. So that's something to work on over the year.