✧⁠*Val✧⁠*

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

Here's a recap of the last few days.

On Thursday, June 19th, I had my Physics exam on thermodynamics and electromagnetism. I'm now waiting for the results and scores to get published, and after that I'll have the speaking exam on these topics in July.

It took me a while to recharge and gain some energy to start studying again, so I took the whole weekend off.

The next exam I'm looking forward to is Organic Chemistry, on July 7th. Two weeks left and 10 chapters left to finish the whole course program. I'm finding it quite hard. It takes me time to properly understand things, but I'm very proud of myself for doing 3 whole chapters in less than 24 hours. I did one yesterday afternoon and two today. It took me about 2/3 hours per chapter.

I really can't spend the whole day studying, so spending 4/5 hours a day on it works best for me.

Today I'm not going to do anything else related to university. I'm just gonna unwind. I'll take a nice shower with skincare and all, play my guitar, have dinner, maybe watch a movie and go to sleep early.

It's very difficult for me to take care of myself when I'm feeling so stressed about university. It's like my mind just won't relax. So I'm trying to make an extra effort to properly take care of me and my mental health.

That's all for now. I'll keep you updated during the next days.

By the way I'm really curious to know what kind of people read my blog. Let me know if you are a student too and, if so, what you're studying!

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

I come with some great news!

I aced the first exam of the season: Applied Zoology.

I was feeling incredibly anxious about this one. There were way too many different topics (literally, from ungulates to fish to bugs to hunting law and river geomorphology) and, to be honest, most of them didn't really sparkle my interest. Studying these was tedious.

It was also a speaking exam, put along with a microscope exam in which we had to properly identify a river bug larvae.

Speaking exams make me extremely anxious. I struggle with public speaking and social anxiety (thank you, austim!) and I often end up panicking and getting brain fog. This is why my psychologist suggested I ask my professors to take speaking exams with as few people as possible around.

When I took this one it was me, my 2 professors and 4 classmates. We were in the lab and my classmates were just going around looking at the specimens, not really paying attention to me. So it went really well and I managed to feel more comfortable and confident, which really helped me out during the performance.

Now, my next exam is Physics (Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism), on Thursday.

Today I was feeling very tired, so I wasn't able to do much in the morning. During the afternoon I reviewed the exam simulations I had already done and took note of the formulas I used to solve the problems.

For 10 whole days I wasn't able to focus on Physics, so it was time to get back at it.

Tomorrow I'll start again with exam simulations.

In the meanwhile I'll start revising some Earth Physics notes for my exam in July, which I really LOVE and I'll be doing as a "hobby" while I focus on Thermodynamics and Electromagnetism.

And that's all for today.

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

Unfortunately the past few days were really tough.

For 2 days I dealt with the chronic pain and fatigue that adenomyosis causes me, and this weekend I had to deal with something really bad that happened in the college dorm I live in. I'd rather not go through the details.

I wasn't able to study as much as I would've liked to.

I had to get my priorities straight and decided to use the little time I could find to study zoology. God, I miss physics.

I managed to go through all of the 4 blocks: population ecology, Italian ungulates, Italian freshwater fish and crustaceans, river geomorphology and field research.

I have now one day left before my exam.

I intend to revise all the blocks, starting with the ones I find the most difficult. I don't want to stress myself too much, so I'll try not to overdo it.

I must admit I'm starting to get scared and anxious. I really hope I won't self sabotage myself.

I'll keep you updated.

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

I got great news: I've finally found an apartment for the next academic year!!! I'm very excited and anxious at the same time, but I'm also relieved. Now I can finally think about exams only and I no longer have to spend my nights looking for an apartment.

Today I woke up around 9:30. I had breakfast and started studying around 12:00.

I did one physics exam simulation and it went well. It took me 1h and 15 minutes. As usual, the part that takes me longer is the one about thermodynamics. But I'm getting better and I'm sure it's going to get even better as I keep on doing exercises.

I had lunch, washed my hair, and started studying the second block of applied zoology.

I couldn't do much because I had to go see the apartment at 17:00, but I'm still very happy with everything I've done today.

I can finally focus all of my energies on studying without worrying about an accommodation for the next year. I'm so happy I managed to find an apartment before my exams start.

After seeing the apartment I hung out with my boyfriend. We had dinner and we sat down for a while to admire the sky (look how beautiful it was!!! ↑). The worse the weather, the happier I am.

And this is everything for today.

Thanks for reading :)

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

Here's a small recap of this 5th day of my little "experiment".

Yesterday evening I once again tried to get a glimpse of the northern lights, as the parameters were looking great. The sky was very cloudy but I still managed to see a brief SAR arc!!! It only lasted for about half an hour and the clouds were coming and going constantly, so it was hard to see and photograph. But it was there and it was visible to the naked eye.

I fell asleep very late and I woke up around 10:30. I searched again for apartments and rooms for the next academic year and after that I had lunch.

I went to my psychologist appointment, it was very intense and left me very tired. I decided to go for a walk and have a break when I arrived home.

I studied for about 2 hours and I'm finally done with the first block of applied zoology.

I'm feeling very tired, hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep fast and early tonight. I really want to make up for the time I lost during the past few days, as the exams are approaching.

That's everything for today.

Good morning/afternoon/evening and happy pride month :) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Yesterday I ended up not posting anything, mostly because I was outside for most of the day. I only studied a little bit of applied zoology in the morning before staying outside till 2am.

Yesterday a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) hit our planet's magnetosphere. We had a G3/G4 geomagnetic storm. Auroras were expected at low latitudes of the Northern hemisphere, so my boyfriend and I tried to catch them but we were unfortunate. The parameters were looking super good, except for the Bz (the vertical component of Earth's magnetic field) that was way too high most of the time (it should be negative). We hoped so hard to be able to see at least the SAR arc, but the sky was pitch black. In the picture you can see the SAR event I witnessed in January from Sardinia, Southern Italy. The sky was a bright reddish pink. It looked amazing, despite a sky full of clouds.

Today I woke up pretty late. After lunch I did one full physics exam simulation, and it was okay. It took me 1h and 6 minutes, so I'd say I'm getting much better at this.

To be honest, today I'm very overwhelmed and overstimulated. One week ago I lost my beloved cat of 13 years. It's hard to swallow. I can't stop thinking about her and I miss her so much. Especially because I'm far from home and I couldn't say a proper goodbye.

I'm feeling anxious for exams and very stressed because I can't find an apartment or bedroom for the next academic year.

So, after doing physics I decided to call it a day. It's currently 18:54 and I'm taking a break. I'll binge watch my favourite show, The Big Bang Theory, and maybe I'll get some take away for dinner because I really don't feel like seeing people at the dorm canteen today.

To be honest, I feel a bit guilty for not studying anymore today. But at the same time, my mind won't allow me to study right now. And I need to understand that it's okay to take a break sometimes.

Good morning/afternoon/evening :)

The third day has come to an end.

Today I finally managed to sleep for a whole 8 hours!!!

I woke up at 10:30 and started studying at 12:00. I started with physics and did one full exam simulation. It went much better than the previous two days.

After lunch me and my roommate visited another apartment, and after that we came back home and I watched some videos on YouTube about circuits and electromagnetism while painting my nails.

I moved on to applied zoology, but I couldn't do much because I only had about 1 hour before having to go out again.

I'm still very happy with everything I've done today. It's not much, but it's still something and I did it well.

Today I also got a beautiful book called "Atmospheric science -an introductory survey". I got it off Vinted for 7€ and it looks like the best scientific book I've ever owned. I'll surely use this to support my studying as I prepare for my meteorology exam in September.

And I guess that's everything for today.

Tomorrow I'll probably only focus on zoology, because I'll be outside most of the day and I'm a little behind schedule.