My Student Exchange Experience During COVID-19

I think I speak for the entire world when I say 2020 has been a very sad, strange, scary and confusing time so far. Nobody has been untouched by the effects of this global pandemic. In the last five months our lives have been placed our hold, turned upside down and changed indefinitely. 

When I boarded my flight to Singapore on the 9th of January this year, I could never have predicted what was in store for me on the other end. Before the virus really became a major cause for concern, my exchange started off like any other. We had the usual formalities; first day orientation, various tours and other organised gatherings and meet ups. It was the ideal programme for any exchange student trying to make their way in this very new and unfamiliar territory. I can still recount those first few weeks quite vividly. It was a time of adjusting and settling in. I was getting used to a new class timetable, trying new foods, finding new shortcuts around campus and meeting so many new people during the course of a single day. The best part was finding time outside of class to travel into the city and explore both the tourist traps and hidden gems. Since I knew I had four and a bit months in Singapore, I didn't mind dedicating a whole day to one specific location. I thought I could afford to take my time with things. Little did I know this mentality was really going to be put to the test. Singapore had its first case pretty early on, around the end of Jan. At that time though, I was still very much consumed by the normal exchange student fears of overcoming homesickness, passing classes and making friends. Unfortunately this resulted in me paying little attention to the media and lacking a lot of knowledge surrounding the virus. 

My wake up call moment happened around the end of Feb. I had booked a trip to Japan and South Korea with a group of other exchange students during a week long semester break however a couple days before we were due to leave, there was the major outbreak in Daegu. The gravity of the situation really sunk in then and we immediately cancelled our trip. All throughout March, exchange students were flying back to their home countries. This was honestly the most difficult part of the entire exchange for me. Having to say goodbye to so many of my friends so much earlier than expected made the parting process that much harder. There were very few exchange students left on campus by the time April rolled around. In fact, there were very few students left on campus period. When Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong announced the circuit breaker on April 3rd, I moved out of my hall accomodation and into my Uncle's apartment. During my stay, I was able to complete all four of my classes which felt like a real accomplishment amidst everything that had been happening. I also felt oddly proud about being able to finish my coursework in Singapore even though there was no real requirement for me to do so since submissions were online. Although classes were over, the hardest challenge was yet to be resolved. As long as I was in Singapore, there was a lot of planning, emailing and phone calling to be done in order for me to get home. 

Finding flights that were confirmed to be going ahead was no easy feat. Luckily for me, I got in touch with two other exchange students from my home country that were able to point me in the right direction. We flew out together which was such a great decision and it was a reasonably smooth trip home. It's been about two weeks since I've been back and it feels so surreal to recall all that has happened this year. Writing this blog post has been a real opportunity for me to organise the jumble of thoughts in my mind. People ask me whether I regret going on my exchange or wish things had gone differently. My answer to them is no. I'm so thankful for this experience and it was still worthwhile to me in every single way. Singapore and the people I met there (you know who you are) will forever hold a place in my heart. Nothing, not even a global pandemic, could change that. 

CONTINUE READING

How to Get Ready For Back to School

In just a few short days, I'll be back at Uni for my second semester!

I know most people probably don't want to be thinking about school while on holiday but I think it's important to dedicate just a couple of days to getting ready for your first day. It doesn't hurt to make sure things are in order. That way everything should run like clockwork from the moment you start back. Here are three tips to prepare for back to school!

Set Your Alarm
One of the best parts of being on holiday is staying bed til noon. In saying that though, you want to make the transition from holiday mode to study mode as smooth as possible. My number one bit of advice, if you've gotten so used to sleeping in, is to start setting your alarm for early. The weekend before you're due to start, make an effort to get up like you would for school. That way it's not such shock having to wake up on day one of your new semester. 

Write Down Your Timetable
Before you start back, get to know your timetable. There's nothing worse than arriving to a class late or not knowing where the actual location of a class is. Get out your yearly diary and jot down when and where you have each of your different classes. It's always good to check through this properly in case there are any problems with your timetable that need sorting. I also like to take note of any important dates or events that may be happening during the semester. 

Organise All Your Equipment 
Make sure you have everything you need for all your different classes. This includes any textbooks, stationery, or items of clothing. Look carefully at the list of requirements so you don't miss anything out or face any surprises on your first day back. I always find this step really enjoyable because I can use it as an excuse to go on school-related shopping spree! 

Thanks for reading!
Q: What's a tip you have for going back to school?

CONTINUE READING

Blogging vs. Uni

Three weeks ago, I started my second year at Uni. 

It was inevitable this year was going to be harder than the first, I just didn’t realise how early on it would hit me. Since Uni started, my course work and assignments are all that I can think about. During the break, I didn’t have a lot to do work-wise. I definitely owe it to this blog for giving my creative side something to do during that time. I actually enjoy studying so having my blog was a great way to practice self-discipline outside of the classroom. Meeting the Friday deadline each week was my way of keeping my inner-student happy.

Last year, I had quite a good system for getting my blog posts and Uni assignments done on time. Because of this, I imagined this year to be a piece of cake.

Sadly, I can’t say it has been all that easy.

Yes, I still managed to get a post up last week and the week before, but I can’t say I was overly pleased with how they turned out. They definitely felt very slap-dash to me. To be honest, even this post feels a bit messy and all over the place. Probably because I’m multitasking between writing this and working on my typography posters in InDesign.

I know I’m not the only blogger out there who has to manage their blog alongside other commitments. It’s like both things are battling for my attention and when I dedicate too much time to one, I feel guilty for not tending to the other. It’s all about finding that happy medium.

I guess this post is another way for me to let you guys know that my content might be a little rough these next few weeks. Just until I get a handle on this whole balancing act thing. I really want to keep putting content out so I don’t think a break is necessary at this time. I think after 6 months away from Uni, I’m still learning to adjust to my new weekly schedule. There's no doubt that the more I work at it, the easier it'll get.

Q: What tips do you have for balancing blogging with other things?

Thanks for reading!

CONTINUE READING

Living at Home For Uni

Since the start of this year, I've had very mixed feelings about living at home. Sometimes, I feel regretful, other times I feel relieved. Regret because I may have lost the best opportunity to move out, relief because I just love my childhood home so much. Starting Uni was definitely a time of change. It took a lot of adjusting and getting used to. In a way, deciding to not move out was just one less thing I had to learn to familiarise myself with. Since I really did struggle getting comfortable at Uni, I do feel quite grateful in that sense. In saying that though, there is a seed of doubt in my mind that wonders whether it would have been better to just deal with both transitions at once. Then I wouldn't be having these confusing thoughts in the first place. 

I can completely understand why people decide to leave home alongside starting Uni. I definitely think it's the most logical time to move out. The main reason I decided to stay at home was because there was no real reason I shouldn't. Not only was I already living in the same city as my chosen Uni, it is literally a 30 min walk away from my house. Location-wise, I had absolutely nothing to complain about. The only other purpose I could think of for moving out was gaining more of my independence. At home, under the same roof as my parents, I almost feel stuck. I'm struggling to grow as a person. I look at the friends who are either flatting or living at Uni accommodation and they seem so much wiser and mature than me. They're living like proper adults whereas I'm still having to text my parents if I'm coming home late from somewhere. I guess I'm not necessarily moving backwards but I'm not moving forwards either and I think that's the thing that scares me the most. 

Living at home definitely has its advantages and disadvantages. I try to see it through a positive lens as much as possible however I can't deny there are moments where I wish I followed in the footsteps of a majority of my friends. This post is a little bit all of over the place which represents my thoughts on the topic perfectly. I'd love to hear what you think about leaving home? Did you do it straight before Uni? Or did you wait a little while first? Let me know in the comment section below!  

CONTINUE READING

Reflecting on my First Semester at Uni

Today I finished my first semester of Uni. I decided to read over my Starting Uni blog post and even though it's been less than three months since I wrote it, I feel like so much has changed. If you read that post, you'd know that my transition from high school to Uni wasn't the smoothest of changeovers. Everything felt so foreign and strange to me and it really made me question the whole idea of Uni and all the decisions I'd made leading up to starting. The way I was feeling was completely normal for someone who tends to get really comfortable doing things a certain way. I'm someone who takes a little longer to adapt to new and different situations however when I do, I forget all about my initial doubts and uncertainties.  

Overall, I really liked my classes this semester. There was one paper that I didn't find as enjoyable as the rest of my classes but I could definitely see the benefits of its teachings. The weeks after writing my blog post, everything started falling into place. I was settling into a weekly routine and this really helped me feel more comfortable in my classes. Throughout the semester, I found the workload pretty manageable. I found that work outside of class was almost just as important as work during class. Self discipline and studying without the teacher's aid was something that I felt pretty okay doing. However, I feel like you're more likely to get in a creative rut when studying alone. Which is where study groups came into play. Arranging study sessions with classmates was a great way to not only bounce ideas off one another but also get to know them better in a more casual and relaxed environment. I think the best friendships I made this semester were created through my study sessions with them. At the start of the year I was definitely worried about getting to know people but all it took was time and a couple of study sessions to rid myself of that fear. 

Something that's really cool about design school is that everyone has a creative passion or hobby that they specialise in, whether that be painting, typography, clothes making or digital art. During the last half of the semester, I really started to feel at home amongst all these creatives. I wasn't used to being surrounded by people who thought so similarly to me. At high school, you're interacting with a range of people with very different interests and thought processes. At design school, everyone is unified by the same goal. And that's to create. This realisation made me appreciate the institute I chose even more. Looking back at my Starting Uni blog post, it's nice to see how I've progressed over the course of 2 and a bit months. Even though the start of the semester got off to a bit of a shaky start, I'm glad things played out the way they did. It's been a real learning experience for both my design and personal life. I can't wait to see what the next semester holds! 

Thanks for reading! Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

CONTINUE READING

Starting University

Three weeks ago, I officially started Uni. I was planning on writing this post after my first week of classes but since I was feeling a little uncertain about things, thought I'd give myself a few more weeks to find my feet. For just a little bit of context, I'm staying at home for my first year, studying at a design school in the city and hoping to major in graphic design. I'm really enjoying my classes and the work involved however this is only a newfound feeling. When I first started out, I didn't feel the least bit optimistic about design school. In fact, I even doubted whether Uni was right for me. 

Looking back I think that had to do with the fact that I felt quite alone during that first week of classes. Going into Uni, I didn't really know anyone. All my high school friends had either moved away or taken a year off to work or study abroad. I'm really happy with the institute that I'm at but during that first week of classes, I felt so out of place. After spending five years at high school, I was so used to getting assignments where the teachers were very clear on what they wanted and how they wanted it. I was used to being surrounded by the same group of people six hours a day, five days a week. Uni is very different. I expected this much but that doesn't mean that it still didn't throw me off a little bit. There's so much freedom and artistic license at design school. You're encouraged to interpret the assessments in your own unique way. As well as this, getting fully accustomed with every person in your class is almost impossible. There are so many people and when you're only seeing them once or twice a week, that doesn't leave much time to properly get to know them. Everything was just so overwhelmingly unfamiliar and the fact that I didn't know anyone prior to starting Uni made me feel even more lost and confused. I now know that many of my fellow classmates were in a similar situation to me however during those first few days where I had little to no interaction with anyone, it felt like I was the only one feeling this way. 

Three weeks in, I'd say I'm in a much more positive headspace now. I know the hardest part of the transition from high school to uni is over and I've begun to look forward to the rest of year and what's to come. I almost feel silly for ever thinking I was alone in feeling alone. I've been able to connect with a couple of people from my classes and instead of focusing on getting to know everyone, I'm going to work on getting to know a few people really well instead. Did you feel a similar way during your first few weeks of Uni? How long did it take you to get settled? I know that's everybody's different so I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading!

CONTINUE READING