5.4.24 | The cherry blossoms are melting into the rich green hues of late spring & I cling to the poetry of the moment. I woke up to rain this morning, a new transition. My heart is full from a month of spring festivities & now the pause before the chaos of summer. ♡ 𝑁𝑜𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑖

𝐹𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠

▪︎ Poetry & the Creative Mind gala live stream event (I will never pass on the chance to hear Meryl Streep read poetry: "So Much Happiness" by Naomi Shihab Nye.)

▪︎ Cherry blossom festivals ft. my favorite taiko 太鼓 drummer group, taiyaki 鯛焼き soft serve, Shiba Inu puppies, crochet flower bouquets & a giant narwhal plushie ♡

▪︎ Poetry Month w/ the Big Six Romantics & haiku masters, sipping plum wine, reading beneath plum blossoms

03.05.24 🌳🌸🍵

last day of lectures, possibly ever! it's bittersweet, especially coming after an almost-all-nighter so i couldn't fully appreciate it. whenever i've taken breaks from education it's sitting quietly in a lecture theatre and learning that i miss most, it's like my natural habitat. however the thought of never being up until 6am doing problem sheets again is a relief 😌

early mornings

enough making petty excuses for yourself. as your scrolling midlessley through tiktok, your competition (aka the version of yourself you want to become) has sat there studying hours on end, moving further and further away from where you are now. "i'm not smart enough" you don't need to be naturally gifted to excel, you just need consistency and good study habits. not everyone who scores high is einstein, they just worked their ass off. turn "one day" into day one and start now.

(almost) fully independent at clicky and zoomy stuff

this morning i received training to use an electron microscope independently! i'm now allowed to open and close a vacuum chamber on my own and play the video game of aligning everything to make the focus better! it's honestly mostly just clicking buttons in a software and carefully sliding a door open and close lol

in the afternoon after installing all the equipment i'll need in the vacuum chamber i was allowed to operate the microscope on my own and managed to measure two samples. the other seven i'll hopefully manage in the next two days :)

18th april '24 — london

this was such a special trip for me. my first time travelling entirely on my own, discovering and falling in love with a city. i've been to london a few times growing up, but i've never had the chance to really explore and live in it until now. forever an experience i'll cherish <3

This morning I stopped by an English bookshop to get my friend her birthday present… and I gave into the unavoidable temptation of buying something for myself too hehe

☆ 2.05.2024 ~ Friday ☆

Some photos from uni yesterday!

One of my favourite things is the drive into uni when I get to see the building over the horizon and it hits that I'm actually a university student!

That may not seem like a big deal to some, but for someone who has struggled with their mental health and actually dropped out of 6th form, I still get a little overwhelmed when I see the uni building 🎓

I'm in a different building next year and one of the things I'll miss the most (aside from the view on the drive in) is the subway we have on campus. I've had so many chicken tikka wraps! Yes I'm basic and I just have it with cheese 🧀

@lovesdaya

03.05.2024—officially graduating with first class honours!! finally got my grade back on Tuesday and been on cloud 9 ever since. all my hard work paid off

my go-to study spots recently

My Simple Post-Exam Healing Recipe 😌🍀

i finished all my exams!! now what?? how do i keep from ruminating on all the questions i encountered and whether i got them right or not? let's take some easy steps to care for ourselves together🍵

Eat Something

Spend Time In Nature/Movement

Surround Yourself With Love

🍃✉️: 💚

Going Challenge // Day 1 of 82* 🍋☕

🗼今日は私の日本語の日記また書くです。昨晩私遅い眠ます、それでこれ朝私疲れた 💤 でも私もまだ頑張ります! (🗼today i'm writing my Japanese diary again. last night i slept late, so this morning i was tired 💤 but i can also still do my best!)

*- the weirdly specific number is how many days until i'll be going to Japan!! such a coincidence that it's also roughly the number of days left in my 12 week year! it was meant to be, i tell you!!

💌: ポッドキャストおすすめ 💕 (podcast recommendation 💕 — podcast is not in Japanese lol, it's about shifting one's mindset on toxic productivity, and i just love Joanne's podcast in general ❣️)

p.s. 日本に行くときのために、なにかお勧めがありましたか? ありがとうございます~ (for when i go to Japan, do you have any recommendations? thank you very much~)

early mornings

👩‍💻 How to Prep for an Important Presentation 🗃️

last week, i scheduled an important meeting for the end of the day today for everyone on my team to roast review the plans i had made for our upcoming project. i wanted to give myself as much time as possible to prepare for it, but things don't always go according to plan. when that happens, don't give up. all it takes is one step in the right direction to change your trajectory 🌠

Have All Presentation Materials Ready

i was multi-tasking up until yesterday and overestimated my ability to finish preparing everything on top of writing code and bug investigations, so i finished within hours of the meeting 🤡

Get Enough Sleep The Night Before

i went bouldering and then had dinner with friends last night, so not only did i not go to bed early, but i also had arms/wrists so sore that typing up all my presentation materials that i left to finish the day of became unusually difficult 🤡

Circulate Agenda / Relevant Documents

i know exactly one person besides myself reads the circulated documents prior to any meeting, but i circulated the completed document two hours before. at the same time, i know more notice would have been ideal not just for attendees, but for me to get early feedback that would've allowed me to present better 🥴

Practice Presenting, Answering FAQs

i had time for one run-through and while i couldn't help but be flustered during some portions of the meeting, i definitely felt more prepared than i would have been without any practice and honestly, my peace of mind and striving for my personal best is what's most important to me ☺️

Be Open to Actively Solicit Feedback

i notice there is a world of difference in response at times when you say "i am open to any feedback or questions, so feel free to jump in" vs. "does anyone have any questions, thoughts, concerns before i move to the next section" or even specifically calling people out based on what you know to be their area of expertise! ☺️

Post-Meeting Tasks, Follow-ups

🍃✉️: whether you're preparing a presentation for school or work, hope this helps! 💚 do you have any go-tos when preparing presentations? 👀