November

In August, before the term even started, I’ve decided to quit my current part-time job at the time – caring for young people with autism and other mental disabilities. Part of the reason why was the fact that I didn’t necessarily need the money (not only) thanks to the KFF’s support. The other part was that I’ve realised how draining this type of job is, both physically and mentally. Since then I’ve had a lot more time to focus on my uni work and it’s been a tremendous help.

Traditionally as the term started in September, I had the chance to do a nice bit of volunteering during the Welcome Weeks at the university. Notably the International Welcome Week that happens twice every year (September and February) for all international students arriving at the university to help them settle in, make friends and get used to being in the UK. It’s a friendly event that ensures the newcomers are fully prepared and settled before starting their academic journey.

As I write this blog, I struggle to think of many interesting moments worth mentioning as most of my time was spent sitting in a computer lab either coding or writing my dissertation paper. And neither of those things is interesting enough to give it more attention than it deserves.

By the end of December, most of my coursework for the first term should be out of the way, as well as the first milestone for the dissertation. What I’m looking forward the most in December though is a scheduled Christmas trip with some of my friend from the Climbing club within the university. This time we’ll be going to the Snowdonia national park in North Wales, doing a fair bit of mountain hiking and outdoor rock climbing.

The Christmas holidays are also just around the corner from now so hopefully those will provide free time to rest up and the option to at least temporarily forget about some of the uni work.