By Aine Fogarty
Hello everyone and welcome back to my first-year diary! College has begun again and I hope you are all surviving.
Now that we’re back and getting into the swing of things again, life is returning to normal. Well as normal as life can be during a worldwide pandemic. Trying to get back into a routine after a seven week break has been a struggle for me. The late nights of not sleeping until 5 a.m. and waking up in the evening are no longer, and the early morning lectures have returned. Thankfully, given that most tutorials didn’t start until week two, I was able to squeeze in a few extra naps and alleviate my sleep deprived brain.
The first week back for me has always been when I feel most motivated. At the start of the semester coming back refreshed and full of energy, despite my need for naps, I believe I’ll keep up with everything and submit my assignments earlier than the day before. I can already feel myself slipping and it’s only week two of the semester. This is more than likely due to being stuck at home and I’m sure everyone reading this understands, especially if you’re not in Galway. Spending most of your week stuck in your house can affect your motivation massively and I find myself doing my work from my bed. I’m even writing this in bed at this very moment. If I have a lecture before 11, I will most likely miss it and my concentration once the evening gets dark is out the window.
Physically attending lectures not being a possibility is taking its toll on all of us and it is becoming especially apparent now every time I look at twitter. Every second tweet on my feed is a complaint about early morning lectures or lacking energy and concentration and even though that makes me feel sad about what my first year of college has become, I am also relieved that it’s not just me experiencing it. This semester is bound to have its challenges just as semester one did, but at least we’re all not alone. Social media has saved us all during this time and I can say I would not have survived last semester without it.
I will end this entry by saying good luck with semester two and if you are struggling so far like me, don’t let it put you down and just think of the summer months ahead.
