Well, it has certainly been a while since I sat down to write a blog post. I really miss it when I haven't written one for a few weeks and got so excited when I realised I might have time to this weekend haha! February was a bit of a crazy month: a lot went down. I have a feeling I'm going to cover a lot of ground in this post as a lot has been going on and I have several things on my mind which I want to chat about.
Girl, where have you beeeeeen?
The past month has been pretty full on when it comes to Uni. I have started placement and have had lots of assignment deadlines sneaking up on me alongside that.
I absolutely love my course but it has shown me just how hard it is to be a teacher and opened my eyes to things I'd never really thought about; for this reason I was super nervous about starting placement. I honestly just started thinking 'I really don't know if I'm cut out for this?!' So far, however, I am loving it! It feels so good to be back working with children and to start to put the theory that we've been learning into practice. The school I have been placed at is so, so lovely, my class teacher is fab and super supportive, and I have my friend Ruby as my placement partner! So I really have nothing to complain about. Something I have found challenging is hearing about some of the situations the children have come from. Some of the things that are going on in the lives of children in our schools is utterly heartbreaking. I know that this is something I will have to cope with throughout my career and I feel it may be something I am going to struggle with at times. I was thinking about this last week and came to the conclusion that I have to focus on the things that I can control and not get too upset about what I can't control. As a teacher, those children will be in my care for the majority of their hours awake in a day. I will do all I can to look after them, teach them, encourage them, support them, and build them up in that time. Whatever may be going on in the rest of their lives, I can at least make that part of their day safe and happy.
Assignments are the other part of my life at the moment. It's just one after the other at the moment. But the end is in sight! My last assignment for 1st year is due at the end of the month! I cannot wait to be free from the stress of it. So far I've done well in all of the ones I have got back so am praying that continues! This is the main reason why I haven't been able to write any blog posts: no one feels like sitting down to type after a long day of doing just that!
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| me rn (if u don't think the parent trap is the best film ever then we can't be friends, soz) |
Snow!
Before Christmas, snow descended upon much of the nation but did not touch Brighton at all! At the time I was very jealous and wanted to be experiencing the festive magic here too. My prayers seem to have been answered... a couple of months late. Along with the rest of the UK, the snow hit us on Monday this week. Ruby and I had a nightmare getting to placement - only for the school to then shut! It was all quite a fun adventure though, I must say. We walked home through the woods and felt like we were in Narnia; I kept expecting Mr Tumnus to pop out from behind a tree to invite us round for tea.
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| Last week I took the picture on the left whilst walking home from Uni and I posted something on Instagram about how excited I was that Spring was upon us... sorry guys, it would seem that I jinxed it for us all. My bad. The picture on the right was taken on the walk back from placement on Monday. |
Today it seems to be warming up and the snow is melting so perhaps winter is finally on its way out???
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| ya gal livin' dat eskimo lyfe lol |
M.E and Me
Something which I have documented on this blog is my health journey; from my M.E and Me post in which I explained the condition and how it had affected my life over the past 6 years (please do go and read that if you haven't already as it is so important for me to raise awareness of this illness!), to my It's a new life for me... post a year later in which I described my journey to recovery. Since then I have had the occasional symptom crop up but generally have been a healthy bean. However, over the past couple of weeks I have felt these symptoms really creep back in to my life which has consequentially sent me into a state of panic. I honestly cannot put into words just how terrifying this is and how much it plays on my mind once I start worrying about it. I spent the first half of last week just thinking ' I cannot go through this again', 'what if I have to drop out of Uni or can't handle placement', 'I don't think I could cope with being in that much pain' etc. NOT HELPFUL THOUGHTS. The truth is that it's been about 9 years since I was 100% fit and healthy so I don't really remember what it is like to be 'normal'. Even though I'm well, I don't have the same stamina as my peers. Therefore, I can't tell if this is M.E on its way back or if others are feeling like this and it's just because of starting placement and assignment stress that I'm feeling so run down.
The end of this week has been a bit better so I'm staying positive! I know that worrying about it will only make it worse and will quite possibly send me into a pit of despair! So I am choosing to trust God, to look after myself, and to keep up my LP exercises which can really help. Prayer for this would be super appreciated, thanks!
Putting it into perspective
Yesterday I had a D I S A S T E R of a morning. Firstly, I went to submit an assignment and could not find it anywhere!!! It wasn't even on my list of 'recent documents' on Word, despite the fact I had been working on it on Friday evening. I then needed to go to ASDA but missed the bus because it was early! When has a bus ever been early?!?! I literally ran for it but the driver left me there *cries*. I therefore had to wait in the cold for 20 minutes until the next one came. Needless to say, I was pretty mad. I rang my Dad like 'everything is going wrong!'. You will, however, be pleased to hear that I got my shopping and when I got home managed to find my assignment (it was in some really obscure folder... no idea how it got there!).
In the evening, I volunteered for the first time at Safehaven which is a meal and short service at St Peter's Church for members of the street community. Brighton has the highest level of homelessness of anywhere in the UK, outside of London. For this reason, opportunities like this for these people to come into the warm to be fed and to be loved is so vital. I was inspired by the way it was done: we set out tables of about eight and we served the food at the tables like in a restaurant (no queuing up like at a soup kitchen). Every guest was greeted like an old friend and I especially enjoyed washing up with 80s tunes on full blast! I definitely want to help out again and would encourage anyone in Brighton to come along if you fancy it. Building community is so important and there is a heck of a lot you can learn from conversation with people you wouldn't usually talk to.
Safehaven really put into perspective what had been going on in the rest of my day... who cares that I missed my bus?! I am so blessed to have a roof over my head and to always have plenty to eat. I definitely take this for granted and need to pause every now and then to thank God for his provision!
Other things on my mind...
Honestly, so much has happened since we last spoke! Some highlights include: the student weekend away, securing a house for 2nd (very stressful so am pleased it is sorted!), went to see War Horse at the theatre with my pal Sarah, galentines celebrations with some of my top gals, and a visit from the fam including a trip to a Rend Collective gig.
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| Student weekend away, beach trip with Steph, War Horse with Meeten |
Aside from my own life, there have been some bigger things on my mind as well. For example, the school shooting in Florida has got me thinking about a lot of things. I feel like it is too big of an issue to address as part of a wider post but I'm thinking about writing specifically about this at some point.
I've also been thinking about the fact that my brother and a lot of my friends are going to heading off to Uni this September. I'm wondering if it might be quite fun to make a video for this blog of 'a week in the life of a University student'... a 'vlog' if you will. Nothing can really prepare you for the transition to Uni life but it could perhaps give some of you who are about to embark on this adventure a bit of an insight into what to expect. Let me know if this is something you would like to see!
Thank you so much for reading and feel free to 'follow' this blog if ya fancy.
Much love,
Katie xxx
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