January Round-Up 2020

The first Round-up of 2020! It has been a fab month and I'm so excited for the rest of the year. This time last year was quite a difficult time for me and I was dealing with a lot of internal struggles, so I am so grateful that this year things have been the total opposite. I feel so content and at peace.
Anyway, for you nosy lot, let's get into the stuff you really care about, what went on in Jan.

P O R T U G A L

I entered the new year in Portugal this year, which is definitely more exciting than my usual motive - staying at home lol. It was my brother's 18th birthday on Jan 2nd, so the family decided to take a trip overseas to celebrate both new years and his birthday. We flew to Faro on December 31st and spent the first 5 days of the year in Albufeira. I really loved visiting a new country and it definitely gave me the travel bug.

A S S I G N M E N T S

If you follow me on Instagram (shameless plug - @chelle._babes ), you will know that I had a whole week of assignment writing in my uni library. I get distracted at home, so I made the effort to get my butt on campus everyday for a week. I spent a total of 19 hours doing assignments that week and I'm so happy it paid off and I managed to submit all my coursework before the deadline. I'm actually so proud of myself because that week taught me that I have a lot of self discipline and motivation. Definitely more than I thought.

C A T C H   U P S

January was a month for me to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was lovely to just sit down and chat with the girls. I made it a personal goal to meet up with at least 3 people I hadn't seen in a while or wanted to catch up with in January and I was able to meet that goal pretty easily, since there are so many people that I hadn't had the chance to spend some time with recently. I think it is so important to make time for people, to just check up on them and have a little chinwag. I definitely want to keep up with that during the year and make the effort to see people in my life.

P H O T O - S H O O T

I had a fun photoshoot with one of my besties Humaira (you can read her blog here). We went into the city centre and took a bunch of pictures for future blog posts and Instagram content. It was great to get out of my comfort zone and also discover some new locations to take pictures in the city. We took the pictures at peak times and there were constantly people walking by and starring at me but as time went on, I got a bit more comfortable and it didn't bother me that they were looking. The pictures turned out great and I can't wait for you guys to see them! Thank you Humaira for being my personal photographer and hype-man for the day hehe.

B A C K    T O     U N I

Somehow January felt so long yet it flew by so quickly. A very hard one to explain and grasp. Before I knew it, the Christmas holiday was over and it was time to go back to university. Semester B began and getting back into a bit more of a fixed routine made it feel like 2020 had really started. I don't know why that is.

W A R D R O B E   C L E A R - O U T

When 2020 began, I found this sudden motivation to "revamp" my life. Not that I wasn't happy with my life as it was, but I quite liked the idea of making little changes here and there. One of those things was my style. In 2019 one of my goals was to find my sense of style and run with it, however I didn't make much of an effort to do that. So why not try again for REAL this time? I ordered a bunch of new clothes throughout the month but also cleared out my wardrobe. I got rid of a good amount of clothes this month. Some were thrown away because they couldn't be worn again and everything else was donated to charity. It was really nice to give to charity but also make some room for new clothes. I have a couple things that haven't been worn that I may sell too.

So that's a breakdown of what went on in January! I hope you had a great month. What did you get up to? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,
Have a great day x

January Academic Goals 2020

It's the first month of academic goals! This month I have had what feels like an endless supply of work to do, but honestly that's probably my own fault. I definitely thought I had more time than I do. I only have a couple goals for the month of January (yet it consumes most my time). I don't want to waffle too much, so here we go!

N E W S   M E D I A   A S S I G N M E N T

In first semester I took a module called language in the news media. I actually really enjoyed it but I'm not enjoying the assignment as much. Not because I don't find it interesting, but because I left it last minute and gave myself a week to get it done. Submission day is Monday 13th 2020 and as I'm writing this, it's looking pretty good. I'm hoping to get it sent off tomorrow YAY. I've been making daily trips to the library and it's really helped me centre my focus. I work really well on my own, so as much as I want to have study days with friends, I think to get my work in on time, going alone is exactly what I need. 

L I T E R A T U R E   C A S E  S T U D Y

I took a literature module this year, which I really enjoyed and actually chose another literature module for second semester too. The assignment is a 3000 word empirical case study. AND BOY HAS IT BEEN STRESSFUL. We had the choice between a naturalistic or empirical study, and me being the one to love a good challenge, I chose the hardest one. Seemed like a good idea at the time but it's caused me a lot of stress at times. Thankfully all the data has been completely collected and recorded; all  that is left is to implement it into my essay and get it all written. I'm so ready to send this off soon and never see it again. It's taken up so much of my time! Hopefully I get a good grade and it all becomes worth it. Not only has it been demanding but it includes one of the things I hate writing the most.......literature reviews. Ew. 

G E T  A  N E W   U N I  P L A N N E R

This is quite a small goal for January, but before the semester begins on the 27th, I want to get a new uni planner. This is not the sort of planner you may be thinking of. I already have my diary planner and it has been saving my life as usual. I like to have a notebook where I am able to plan out my assignments and make notes before I begin coursework. I'm someone who cannot just type from nothing, to begin with. I like to come up with some sort of structure or ideas to go off. Having a notebook specifically for that is super helpful and I'm due to purchase another. I carried on using my previous planner book from first year and now the pages are getting limited, so what better time to get a new one than the beginning of the year and before second semester. 

I decided to document the process of meeting my academic goals, on my Instagram stories. If you want to see me achieve these goals and get a gist of what my day looks like as a uni student, follow me @chelle._babes

So these are my goals for the month! 

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x

January Round-Up: What Happened?

We've already reached the end of the first month! How crazy is that? That honestly flew by so quickly. I remember January feeling like 3 months long last year. but this year it came and went in a blink.

I thought I would do a post I have never done before. I want to put more time and thought into my blog this year. Although I work hard on my blog all the time, I want 2019 to be the best one yet for Chelle Belle. I'm hoping to see the community grow significantly, for my photography game to level up and for my posts to reach the engagement it never has before.

So, I have decided to start a new "series" called 'Round-up'. Being at university, having set academic goals for every month is very difficult. Unlike school doing a degree isn't as set in stone. You don't have assignments and homework every week like you may do in school or sixth form, making it very hard to make goals at the beginning of every month. I will still be making academic goals posts whenever I am able to, but I wanted something I could post every month, that would be continuous. That is when I landed on the idea of doing round-up. Essentially, at the end of every month I will share some of the things I got up to, achieved or struggled with during the month. Some may be personal and others to do with academia.

Hopefully you enjoy these posts as I go down memory lane every month. Of course this is the first of 12, that you can look forward to reading this year.
So, what did I get up to in January?

January Academic Goals 2019

It has been so long since I have done an 'Academic Goals' post. My last one was back in May! I originally planned to start them again in September but finding time to blog during the first semester was a bit of a nightmare. Now that it is a brand new year, it is only right that I kick start them again. These type of posts always had a great response and honestly having academic and personal goals every month is essential for me.

I don't have many goals for this month as I don't start university again until the end of January. I have an exam on the 17th but my first lecture of second semester is the 29th.Most of these goals focus on the exam.

1) Learn how to draw Grammar Trees

If you have never studied English Language above GCSE level, you'll probably have no clue what these are, but they are THE WORST. I had heard of them during my A-levels but we didn't ever have to do them, so being told drawing them in first year was worth a hefty amount of marks in exams was quite the disappointment. When we were first introduced to them in a lecture, I had never left a room so confused. I went to the seminar the week after and still had no clue what I was doing. The week we broke up for Christmas, we had a revision session and I didn't improve much then either. It is now 2 weeks before the exam and I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM DOING. My number one goal for this month is to learn how to draw a stupid grammar tree. I understand the concept and the first couple steps but honestly I'm lost from beyond that point. Send help.

2) To Practise writing the two exam essays

This is obviously a goal I need to meet BEFORE the final exam, but it is one I am yet to even touch. The exam is 3 painful hours long and includes writing two essays. I feel like such an unprepared student because I haven't attempted to do a practise essay ONCE. I've known about this question for over a month and haven't even dissected the question, let alone wrote it. I don't know what it is, but I've come home and forgot I'm a student. I'm planning to sit myself down and plan the question out and then write it next week.

3) Learn the definitions for linguistic terms

This is a goal I have actually started trying to reach, thank God. It's probably the easiest of the tasks because its all a memory game. All I do for this is write out definitions over and over until I wake up repeating them.

4) My one goal for after the exam is to look into my modules before the term begins.

I am able to view what my modules are for second semester, so I want to read around the subject a little bit just to take off some of the stress. If I know the basis of the modules, then perhaps it will make assignments a lot easier and maybe I'll have to do less reading during the term (lol a girl can dream).

So these are my academic goals for the first month of the year! What are some of your academic goals? And if you're working full-time, what are your professional goals?

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x

January Academic Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! First month of the year and I'm feeling good. I hope you are too!
It's been great to take it easy and have a bit of a break during holiday season, but now it is time to get back into work mode. Today, I bring to you, my academic goals for the month of January. If you are unaware of this "series", it's something that I started in September 2017 (mainly to hold myself to account), where I share my educational goals with you all. Basically things I need to get done or want to get done by the end of each month. Check out the ones I did last year under the Life category and also make sure to follow me here so you don't miss future months.

OK, let me just get on with it!

1) Finish English Coursework

I finished my investigation piece and it was graded (which I was extremely proud of) and I have now written my original writing piece. All I have left to do is my commentary piece and then get everything graded. Unless you do or teach English Language A-level, you're probably not going to know what in the world I am talking about but just know I am almost at the end haha. I am so ready to have my grade and be able to focus on exam content, once I am done.

2) Completely finish EPQ

I actually should have completed all of this during December but due to the weather conditions, we had two snow days and one of them fell the day before my presentation. Due to this, our mentors cancelled all presentations for that day and rearranged them for January. Once I am done with the presentation....NO MORE EPQ! WOOP WOOP. It's not that I hated doing it, it just took so much of my time and I am very pleased to be almost finished with it. I hope it was all worth it and I get a good mark.

3) To finish my first book of the year

I have made it a goal of mine to read more this year. I only managed to read 4 or 5 books in 2017 (I know, really bad), and I want to try and read a book per month this year. It's going to be a task because as an English Student, I already get assigned with things I have to read and research, so finding time to do personal reading is tight, but I want to try. The first book I would like to read hasn't arrived yet, but as soon as it comes, I'm getting straight into it. It sounds amazing and I can see myself finishing it fairly quickly. Fingers crossed.

4) Start to convert some of my notes into neater versions

I have so many notes that it isn't possible to do this for them all but for my notes that I have taken in lessons, which are quite rushed or messy, I want to spend time re-writing them. I learn well when my notes are neatly constructed and concise, so I would like to make sure all my notes look good. I specifically want to do this for history since there are loads of stats and dates, that I want to be clear.