Back To Basics

And so at last the final week of university holidays has ended... Tomorrow is the official start of my 2nd year of Fine Arts! Now the night before all the lectures start again, I can't help feeling that Beginning-Of-Year-Esque desire to make a good start to university and classes... but also with all the other aspects of my life. Yes I know it's already February 15th but its never too early or too late to start something.

For me, these are my major university-orientated changes:

1. Thou shalt continue to post on this blog ONCE A WEEK!
2. Thou shalt become a minimalist with thy bag. I've always had a bad habit of carrying too much stuff in my backpack and wondering why my shoulders always feel so strained. This year, I've opted for a small hiking backpack with better shoulder support instead of my previously "trendy" bag.                                                                                                                   I've also opted for a tiny diary and fewer notebooks... (now the Modernists will call me out for not losing all the books and getting a tablet instead, to which I say quite proudly that I'm old-fashioned that way).
3. Thou shalt do thy work during the breaks between classes. Now I did do this to a certain extent last year, but me being an idiot meant that I did all the work I could do anywhere whilst I was at University and the all the work that needed to be done in a University space... well let's just say I went in on the weekends a lot.
4.  Thou shalt keep thy papers organised THE WHOLE YEAR. Now for this I am quite proud to let my OCD tendencies take a hold of me and subdivide the divisions within my file. I've also found some clever "hacks" online when looking up productivity and organisation (Really can we give all of these marvellous people awards for making life simpler?).
5. Thou shalt make time to do thy own art. As I'm sure you may have noticed in the works I've been sharing on the various pages lately (see links to other pages on the right hand side of this blog), I've started working on a smaller scale to get more works done. Varsity work is not enough to make a name, my own work will always be unique to me.
6. Thou shalt do the readings and preparations BEFORE classes. And I don't mean just skimming over things, I mean actually taking the time to prepare work and also review the things taught in class.
7. Thou shalt go to the extra stuff! There is so much more to University life than just lectures, this year I will MAKE the time to go to the extra things.
8. And most importantly, THOU SHALT MAKE TIME FOR THE PEOPLE THAT MATTER. Now I will manage time better so that I can spend relaxed time with my family, and actually have a bit of a social life. I am not going to be a social hermit this year. The people in my life matter so much to me because when the work is done, they're the ones I come back to in the end.

And now dear readers, I must pack the last of my things for varsity and tragically resign from my life as a night owl.

Until we meet again

Talia