Yesterday I had my first connection call with a member of The bloom and it was something!
We spoke about work, life, school and everything in between. The lady I spoke with is a bit older than me and she said when she was my age she said the exact same things I was saying on the call.
What did I say?
I didn’t know a work like this existed, I didn’t know anything about youth advocacy, I didn’t know where to start looking for jobs since I didn’t quite fit in roles like social media specialists or writer or doctor or lawyer even though I have an LLB.
The lines seemed a little more blurred for me with my seemingly unhealthy devotion to fighting for educational equity.
Yesterday was a day of many firsts,
First class of the semester, first bloom call, and first diary entry. As I wrote the first diary entry instead of writing the proposal for my second book I decided I’d set an intention for everyday as part of this diary series.
Todays intention is to be kind to myself.
In keeping with todays intention I looked closely to see how much I have grown since my first year.
Learning moment!
I’m an advocate for a 2 year master program if you struggle with making connections because two years allows you get comfortable and build relationships. Case in point in my first year I hardly spoke in class but my participation grew as the semesters progressed. And I think life is meant to be experienced not rushed so if you can allow yourself the time to do a two years masters instead of one, do that.
Also on the topic of a two year masters is that longer masters programs allow you understand the communication style of the people around you.I think we no longer take our time to understand how people communicate and that affects our ability to truly connect, especially slow socialisers like me.
Finally on a topic I’ll probably write about a lot, the importance of striking a balance.
Why are we talk about striking a balance? because the absence of balance is burnout and as someone who can be busier than a bee, it took almost burning out for me to realise that.
I had the chance to choose burnout all the in the name of personal development but I caught myself before I fell and prevented potential burnout at the end of the semester.
What happened you might ask?
Well in keeping with new semester, new energy and trying to find my rhythm I spotted a student organisation that caught my eye and the temptation to join was almost to much to overcome.
If you’re like me, who jumps on almost every opportunity for growth it can be painful to see a golden opportunity and not hop on it but I’ve learnt to tell myself that any opportunity I pass up gives someone else a chance to get it and use it more actively than I could with a busy schedule.
It is super easy to think it’s pertinent to hop on all opportunities but as one who’s overloaded herself in the past it’s important to know when you have enough on your plate.
Remember to choose balance!
Until next time,
Your friendly
Public Policy and Management ,
Masters Student.
12/09/23