university – From My View

Final Year Uni So far…

Hi. So I am currently in my final year of University studying Psychology, and I have a few remarks about how the course has been going over the past three years.
Psychology is like a wasp sting. You get pricked by it, and for a short while (1 year), it is unnoticeable; you cannot feel the sting. Then, it all comes at once, bringing all the misery and pain simultaneously. What I will be writing is quite biased as I do not intend to pursue a career in Psychology, so my views will be quite different.
When coming to University, I would (and still) use the excuse that I chose the topic as a backup option, as it was during the COVID lockdown. I didn’t know how long the pandemic would be, and I was too afraid to relax and do nothing, so I took a gamble. It all stemmed from what I filled my brain with. When I used to watch Smosh, an actor there – Shayne Topp, would talk about psychology and how fascinating it was. Now, as the impressionable, yearning-for-a-male-role-model I am, I wanted to study it so I could inadvertently be like Shayne. It is good to have models, but modelling your career choices will not make you like them. You effectively lie to yourself to tell others that this is who you are when the real you is on the moon in your mind’s world.
1st year was a breeze but incredibly dull. There were many instances when I wanted to drop out, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t want to be the version of myself that gave up. This nature crept into my personality and daily actions in my final year. To write this blog post, I did not attend a workshop. I signed up to participate because of how accessible all University information is online. The powerpoints and videos are all within my reach on the wide web; why should I attend these workshops? One might argue, “it is the lecturer’s advice on how to do things best for your course”, which I agree with to an extent. The other side of the argument is that these lecturers are paid to be present for a set number of hours per week on campus, meaning they stretch content out for as long as they want, and students have to consume it.
Makes sense? It is what we pay for, after all. But I don’t want to waste my final year here anymore. It is already November; our student house has the Christmas tree up. Time is moving so fast, and I want these three years to mean something.
So, what do I choose them to mean? I want these years to be an example to myself in the future that I do my best and that sometimes my way is better. There’s a song by Frank Sinatra that encapsulates it (My Way).

I’ll keep this updated weekly on how final year is going.
Stay Safe
Tom

Moving Flats!

Due to the drama that occurred in my previous flat (will be discussed in another post) I only saw it right for me to move out, and find my sense of happiness again.

Minor backstory, there was a dislike present between myself and some other members of the flat. There was no big wrongdoing, besides a minor sexual tension between myself and the big leader of the flat. It was something neither of us could anticipate, but it happened and we had to deal with it.

Why do I bring this up, well my dear reader! It is because the fallout created increasing unhappiness for me and for her. Though attempts were made to correct this, it is important to note that you cannot change the people around you, but you can change the people around you. One of my favourite quotes from ‘The Minimalists – http://www.theminimalists.com’. I have no feelings of hatred towards her, but our friendship ( for now) cannot be fixed. Feelings of isolation and depressive episodes were present for me, and when I’m paying £6000 for accommodation fees, I better be enjoying my stay. It is okay to be selfish, you are your main character.

The moving process took a couple of hours. This happened during the Coronavirus Pandemic (for future readers- I hope!) meaning only I could be there to move all of my stuff into my car and to the new place. Luckily I had left some boxes in my flat ( I haven’t lived there in over 2 months) to help move my stuff, it is almost like I anticipated it!

These boxes were heavy. If I wasn’t a minimalist before, I definitely will declutter now. It was so annoying!

My new place is great though, my room has its own air freshner, and it looks really comfy. My old place gave me knockoff Pot Noodles, my new place gave me Original!

I think this will be good 🙂

Thanks for stopping by, remember I am not a guru.

Onwards and Upwards!

I am back! This time better than ever.

I do feel a bit of guilt for abandoning this blog, but I found it was the right thing to do since all that has been happening over the past few weeks.

So, I have been studying at my university for my assignments that were due in just before Christmas. They have been lots of hard work, but I have found them to be rewarding once you hit the ” Submit” button. Before, back in Secondary school, I would not care as much when it came to homework and tasks. I would do them as soon as I got them yes, but I would not soak in the information from the tasks to apply this to my understanding. This made them pointless.

This is one of the first things i have begun to comprehend, is to Engage with your work. What i mean by this is to not only complete your homework, or tasks, but to consider “What is this telling me?”.

Let’s say for example, you are doing a maths question, focussed around pythagoras’ theorem. You answer the question. Done, easy peasy and off to relax-town. But, if you asked yourself what it was teaching you, it would become clear the task was showing you when to use it, on right-angled triangles only!

Besides the maths lesson, looking at the bigger picture should always be at the forefront of your mind. Not to the point where you overthink life entirely, but enough for you to learn the reasoning behind certain actions and tasks.

In social situations, the ‘bigger’ picture concerns the “Why” in people’s behaviour. For example, I was driving on the dual carriageway recently, and this woman was constantly beeping at me. I was driving at 70, and was following the road rules, but I couldn’t understand why she was beeping. I could easily get angry and try to react, but I thought to myself, I don’t know this woman, something may have happened in her life to make her act this way. People should be treated the way they wish to be treated, but if others fail to meet that criteria, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t either.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, remember I’m not a guru.

Hesitation

I am writing this whilst I listen to the Gary Vee experience on my phone. Just thought I would give it a shoutout, because it is a very good podcast.

Hesitation, this is something we all have to deal with. It is the back of your brain which activates when you undertake an action, which you may not usually do. It is the feeling of “nnaech” if you can imagine; in your head. It is the feeling of uncomfortableness.

This topic has cropped up in my mind recently as I have began speaking to new people. Going to university is something I am nervous about; what I am going to do and who I am going to meet. SO, I have started speaking to new people, to close the gap of my nerves.

There is this one person that I really enjoy talking with. But, I cannot fully enjoy this to the amount I intend to because I am nervous. I am nervous that the way I live ( which has been structured throughout my life) is going to be unpredictable. Getting close, In a relationship scenario is unpredictable; and it is beautiful. Certainty is what I have subjected myself to, for the past 17 years.

Conversely, I am excited for this new experience. Indulging in a new type of life is choosing more off the menu of life. I have never let myself try to do new things, by doing this, my life will change, and that is okay.

So, what advice do I give to myself and everyone reading this? When you get the hestistation feeling; in the back of your head, and you feel the urge to stay way you are. Embrace the feeling, this is what you should be doing. Whatever gives you the twitch, is the next step to get the life you want.

Keep picking off the menu of life, the price does not matter. Only then will you get the best desert.