I have made up my mind

In my November post I said I was not sure if I thought January exams were a good idea or not.

After taking exams in January I can safely say, they are not a good idea, at least not the way ours were conducted.

Source: http://belfastgms.org/

The Christmas holidays were spent revising, however, even when I took Christmas day and New Year’s Eve off, it was really hard to relax. Exam stress is quite consistent; it does not take a day off. First day back from the holidays we had our first exam and now in the second week back at University, I am absolutely exhausted. We have not had a proper break which in my opinion was quite important considering how tough and demanding this term is going to be for us final years.

I am one of the representatives for our third year and throughout the holidays I got emails from my fellow class-mates saying how distressed they were and if there was anything that could be done.

I know that if we did not have January exams we would have had to give all our exams in May, however, we would have had more time and would have had a lot more energy if allowed to give exams in May.

I think the school should ask students before making decisions like this or instead, if third and second year students are used to May exams, they should be allowed to complete the course the same way they started it, the same way they are used to and the first years who are new to the system, get to try the new system of January exams.

I know a lot of Universities have January exams, but those same Universities also give their students revision extra time and then extra time off too.

On a more positive note, I hope you have a lovely Christmas break and if you had exams in January, I hope they went well. 

New Year’s Resolutions

WERE IN 2014!!! WOW! Time flies.

During the last few years, I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions because I learnt early on that I was terrible at keeping them. So instead of setting myself up for failure I just stopped making them. Don’t get me wrong, I didn't stop making resolutions, I just didn't make them at the start of the year for the whole year.

This year however, I thought I might try again. So I made two resolutions. I know that may seem quite little, but I would rather just have two and make sure I keep them because I really do want to be able to do them every month.

My resolutions are:
1. To try to focus/concentrate more - I find I can’t focus on a particular task for too long, as my mind wonders or I start day dreaming. So I am hoping that each month I get better and better at being able to focus on whatever task I am undertaking. I am also hoping that this will make me more present and help me to ‘live in the moment’.

2. Start exercising - I know this is one of the most common resolutions however; I really want to and hope to start exercising and hopefully keep it up. I don’t do a lot of physical activity, not as much as I use to and I can really feel the difference. The body becomes quite sluggish and tired, even when it shouldn't. I have not yet worked out an actually exercise regimen, but hope to have one in set soon. If I find one that works I will most definitely write about it.  

What new year’s resolutions have you made and what are you doing to stick to them?