A tax-free Science journal by Dutyfree

Uni Stuff > The University Journey Journal

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dutyfree:
Uni journal P10.
Review of week 0:
First thing I noticed about ‘new year new me’ was that the capacity of my social battery has significantly decreased. O-week consisted of manning the society’s stall and giving the same 2-minute spiel to first years, altered slightly to accommodate to their interest in academic or social events. It was mentally draining, regardless of my enjoyment in talking to new like-minded people. But the good thing was that I felt useful and productive with my new set of responsibilities.

On an unrelated side note, I’m seriously considering adopting some sort of vegan or vegetarian diet, the only major barrier seems to be dairy and eggs. I’ve been researching the impact of the meat industry on carbon emissions and even though, most would say my individual actions would only have a tiny spec of tangible impact, who cares, I've never liked beef (the edible and social version) anyway (shrug).

Despite my sudden introverted-ness, I was persuaded to go to a uni party with my friend (who I barely knew but wasn't awkward with). I actually really enjoyed it, I bonded with my new pal, everyone was super chill and easy to talk to, and I was thinking, ‘wow, this is what the advertised uni social life is like and thankfully, I’m comfortable and fitting in’.

This semester, my timetable is squished into Monday to Wednesday, this gives me 2 whole days to do lab prep, quizzes and fit in all the extra non-academic programs into the weekend slot. I’ve started my neurotic organisation of scheduling the entire semester, this time entirely on Notion. It’s solid platform so far, and I’ve adopted a few templates from study youtubers. Since I loved the advice and tips from my mentor last semester, I signed up to peer mentoring thinking, mm, I would get a couple of wholesome mentees keen to get started on their science degrees. Instead, I received 13 mentees?!??, how is this even manageable?
Anyways, I’m keen to start a hopefully 'normal' second year!

PS: I finally deleted tiktok (I don’t know who reads this but hello pals! this is a monumental decision, that would now significantly reduce my screen time).
:)

The Cat In The Hat:
This journal sounds interesting. :)

Bri MT:

--- Quote from: dutyfree on February 27, 2021, 11:04:14 am ---Uni journal P10.
Review of week 0:
First thing I noticed about ‘new year new me’ was that the capacity of my social battery has significantly decreased. O-week consisted of manning the society’s stall and giving the same 2-minute spiel to first years, altered slightly to accommodate to their interest in academic or social events. It was mentally draining, regardless of my enjoyment in talking to new like-minded people. But the good thing was that I felt useful and productive with my new set of responsibilities.

--- End quote ---

O-week felt different this year but idk if that's because of how I've changed or because of the covid changes. I'm guessing this was for an academic society?

--- Quote from: dutyfree on February 27, 2021, 11:04:14 am ---On an unrelated side note, I’m seriously considering adopting some sort of vegan or vegetarian diet, the only major barrier seems to be dairy and eggs. I’ve been researching the impact of the meat industry on carbon emissions and even though, most would say my individual actions would only have a tiny spec of tangible impact, who cares, I've never liked beef (the edible and social version) anyway (shrug).

--- End quote ---

If your major barrier is dairy and eggs, then maybe start with vego and see how you go with that?
(I've been vegan for 4ish years - happy to talk if you have questions)

--- Quote from: dutyfree on February 27, 2021, 11:04:14 am ---Despite my sudden introverted-ness, I was persuaded to go to a uni party with my friend (who I barely knew but wasn't awkward with). I actually really enjoyed it, I bonded with my new pal, everyone was super chill and easy to talk to, and I was thinking, ‘wow, this is what the advertised uni social life is like and thankfully, I’m comfortable and fitting in’.

--- End quote ---

Woo! Glad you had a great experience :)

dutyfree:
Hey Bri MT!
Yep, it was for a niche academic society.
I’ve just stopped drinking milk (the one from cows) with tea/ coffee and from the fridge (yes, I used to be that creature)!

Uni journal P11.
Irrelevant segue:
How do you study?

To be honest, even after finishing my 12 years of schooling, I had no clue how to answer this question.
My philosophy was prep early and take the shortcuts. This means, I made tons of timetables (colour coded, of course) and made sure to find all the resources (online, past students, forums) – so I had exposure to reviews by high achieving students, excellent essays, the ‘what not to do’s’, etc.
But I’ve never truly worked hard, studied consistently for more than 2 hours or most importantly, remembered what I learnt the previous year. On the outward, I had excellent notes – neat handwriting, pretty diagrams and very detailed, but I knew I hadn’t truly absorbed most of the knowledge I have written down, as chunks of it were directly copied off the textbook. In my head, I referred to my studying as some sort of ‘cheating the system’; I relied a ton on my school’s sac scaling, wrote from my many memorised essays for the English language and French exams (oop) and floated by year 12 without much ambition.
I would say the gap year after VCE was a godsend to completely detach myself from academics and its burdens; imposter syndrome sprinkled with some anxiety. The quarter-life-crisis in 2019 allowed me temporary relief to be introspective of my motivations entering into more strenuous education.

Cringe idealistic conversation:
Society: Are you excited to start university, ‘a new chapter in your life’?
Moi: Yea, it’s going to be so chill and no way as factorised and rigid as high school.
S: Yep, uni is nothing like high school, you have to take initiative to study, keep up with assessments and you definitely don’t get spoon fed.
M: *panic*
But I don’t even know how to study
S: ‘Shrug’
Figure it out, it’s about time.

From there on I started my random and inconsistent research on study methods. I needed to find an efficient method to learn content without direct memorisation (which I’m terrible at), but most importantly learn how to learn and feel well deserving of my grades that I achieved from hard work (this doesn’t mean cramming for hours – but absorbing knowledge with good time management).

(This sounds like some kid on the internet trying to go on a nerdy journey to find themselves (roll eyes).
But yeth, that is exactly what this is - cue battle music.)

I think I’ll share these methods on my journal (just to hold myself accountable with my research) as I slowly adopt them if they benefit my grades and sanity.

PS: I really want to know who actually reads these entries, cos I think I’m getting far too brave and foolish in writing anecdotal things that can easily reveal me.
:)

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