Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

New Semester and RAG week

A new semester in college brings with it new chances and opportunities for spontaneity, giddiness, friendship and laughter. I say it's a new semester but it's the start of Week Three already so my time to call it a new semester is waning rapidly. No time like the present as they say.

What have I been up to since returning to college after Christmas? Well I had a good catch up with the girls in the apartment, attended all lectures and tutorials, did all coursework relevant each week and I suppose I possibly, probably, maybe went out a couple of nights each week. Let's just say my Snapchat story on Monday and Thursday nights can be questionable, weird and possibly funny. (Add awkwardaveen if you think you can handle the weirdness).

Between predrinks, booking taxis, dancing in the nightclubs and craving Supermacs afterwards, I've had brilliant nights out in Limerick this semester and with RAG week, I can assume it'll continue this way. For now, here's some photos from my nights out. These are the ones that were saved to my Snapchat, who only knows what the unsaved photographs were like!

A selection of photos are taken straight from my Instagram or from my Snapchat story as well as some 'never seen' photos.











It's quite early in the semester so I imagine that in a couple of weeks, there will be less nights out and more of a start on completing assignments. Myself and the girls are making the most of the precious spare time we currently have until this happens.

When is your college's RAG week? Have they any exciting line ups announced? Tweet me or send a snap! 

Aveen x

Sunday, 14 August 2016

Life As Of Late #2

I quite like the idea of writing an update on the last fortnight through a visual/photographic way. Once again, here is my Life As Of Late. 

Meeting Up With Old Friends And New Friends


At the beginning of the month, I went to the Gorey Market House Festival and met up with my friends from secondary school and was introduced to new friends. It was a brilliant weekend to say the least. 


 Dealing with Adulthood and Responsibilities

Upon realising it's my last few months as a teenager, I decided to try be an adult. As a result, I bought what I felt a lot of adults use - sellotape and also a laminator. Scary times. 


Designed an Emoji?

On Snapchat you can design yourself as an emoji. As an avid emoji user, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to send emojis of myself to my friends. Note, I got a little bit excited sending this snap. 

Read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Also, cried)


As a massive Harry Potter fan, I just HAD to buy Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I devoured the book during an afternoon. I might also post a review for those who haven't read it yet as it is quite interesting and different to the original seven books (this book is the script of the play in London).




 Petted More Goats?!



On the Sunday of the Market House Festival, there were goats and other animals on the Main Street, along with several other attractions. Being me, I ran towards the goats and sheep to try feed and pet them. 

And petted sheep


Became obsessed with a new Snapchat filter



As you can tell, I spend too much time on Snapchat. But this is definitely one of my favourite filters to use when sending snaps. (Snapchat: AwkwardAveen)

Made an impulse purchase


I decided to buy a sandwich maker ''for college'' to make myself a tonne of toasties with. I'll be rolled out of my apartment in college next May I swear. 


Have you ever bought any random impulse purchases?
Let me know in the comments, tweet me or shoot me an email!
Aveen x

Sunday, 7 August 2016

Back to College Stationery Haul!


It's officially that time of year again - preparing to go back to school or college! You might be thinking, ''I still have a month of left my holidays, leave me alone Aveen!'' yet I feel you can never prepare too early for going back in September. 

As I will be starting my second year in college, I now realise what stationery I actually need for my college course (primary teaching). Last year I went slightly insane buying every and any piece of stationery I could place my hands on. (Including a page hole puncher which I have not yet used). This year however, I was more sensible thankfully! 

To start with, I bought a school bag from the Roxy website. Even when I was in secondary school I always had to have a Roxy school bag. I found them so spacious, stylish and comfy to lug my heavy books around in. Needless to say, this ethos hasn't changed so I bought a floral patterned bag this year. Funnily enough, the bag matches the pencil case I bought in Penneys/Primark! (not in that photo but in normal daylight they match). 

For lectures and tutorials I always bring refill pads to write notes or to occasionally doodle. I tend to buy refill pads with dividers in them and you can label each section according to each subject. Due to the amount of modules I study each semester I usually need 2 refill pads with 5 dividers in each. I find it a lot easier coming up to exam and assignment time to study as I know where my notes are. 

I picked up some sticky tape with dispensers (you never know when they will come in handy). I got two so I have one for my bedroom at home and one for my room in Limerick. Likewise I bought two sets of sticky notes so I won't have to carry extra things around when I'm travelling to-and-from at the weekends. 

Blue tack is also a great investment to get. I found I went through a lot of blue tack when I was teaching on placement last semester. As a result I keep blue tack with me at all times during college time. 

I also bought two lever-arch folders for future placements later on in the college term, along with the poly-pockets to go in the folders. Sharpies were also on special offer in Tesco (where I also got the majority of my stationery, their section of stationery is just a dream!) so I picked a pack of them up, along with pens, pencils, an eraser and highlighters. 

I also find that light plastic folders are great for keeping any hand-outs or notes you might be given in tutorials or lectures. Depending on the subject, I could get several handouts from my tutors or lecturers. Keeping them in the small plastic folder is great especially coming up to exam time as you know exactly where the notes are. 

I also picked up two smaller notepads, one will be for writing down my 'homework' or my to-do list whilst in college. In some lectures we're asked to study readings in advance of the next tutorial or lecture so I'll most likely write down the necessary information in one of the notepads so I can keep on top of my work. 

I hope this has helped anyone starting college as a guiding point for what to buy as regards to stationery. If you aren't sure what to get (regardless of your college course) a refill pad and a few pens/pencils is always an excellent starting point. I think with my course I go through a lot more stationery than the average college student, I feel as though I spend the college year just stocking up on stationery!

Have you gotten any cute stationery or notebooks for going back to school or college?
Send me a snap (SC: awkwardaveen), tweet me or let me know in the comments!

Aveen x

Thursday, 19 May 2016

An Ghaeltacht


Hey Everyone!

I've been absent for a little while due to study, exams and a two week trip to the Gaeltacht in Kerry! The Gaeltacht course is compulsory when you study to be a primary school teacher.  I spent a fortnight in Feothanach i Corca Dhuibhne. To say it was a great experience is an understatement. I really enjoyed the trip and I was so lucky to be surrounded by such lovely people. 

This blog post will be quite photo heavy so I'll let the photos do the talking, after all, a picture speaks a thousand words. I've included some random selfies as well photographs of the beautiful scenery I witnessed over the two weeks. 

Among some of the activities I did: 
Taking part in Darkness into Light for Pieta House in Dingle
Visited the aquarium in Dingle
Visited the Blasket Islands
Visited the beach in Muiríoch on the last day
Took lots of photographs and generally acted like a tourist







The beach in Muiríoch













Bhain mé idir taitneamh agus tairbhe as an gcoicís gan amhras. 
An raibh tú riamh as Ghaeltacht? Inis dom! 
Le ghrá,
Aveen xx

Saturday, 2 April 2016

A Voice Is To Be Used, Not Stifled.

Hesitant hands hover over the keyboard, heart thumps as the blank screen awaits, fresh for new ideas to be displayed in the form of 26 letters in new unique compositions. A frantic intake of oxygen, followed by a brief exhalation. Eyes swiftly close, to be reopened in a wave of fear.

The constraint of the inability to post freely. The hand over my mouth has become more prominent and uncomfortable.

My words are censored, carefully selected.

What was once such an easy task is debilitating. The tedious process of filtering information regarding my life into suitable sentences and sets of photographs. What was once a fun, light hearted activity has become a stress inducing exercise.

The fear consumes my soul. It has for many months. The frequent inactivity gnaws my bones. I know I must post regularly, simply due to my own desire to do so. Yet this desire is rarely translated onto the screen or the page. Fear appears regularly, eating up the keyboard and ripping up the pages in a terror induced rampage.

Slumped against the chair, hands pressed against the face. A sigh of dejection and a quick shake of hair are the only physical signs of the turmoil.

A stretch of the limbs and a deep exhale from lungs attempting to avoid the fear lingering in the room. I must remember the reason for starting this blog. I must recall the happiness instilled in my being by this blog. Remembering I have a voice. A voice is to used, not stifled. 

I avoided posting about my emotions on my blog since September 2015. I wanted to be a different person but we can't simply deny vital components to our identity. Instead of joy, I felt anxious when even writing a post, breaking into a fear-induced sweat - thinking about what others thought.

The title of this blog is The Random Life of Aveen. It is my life, my thoughts, my events, my musings, my emotions. My own personal platform which I have not utilised as much as I should have as of late.

I turned my back on my identity. Trying to 'fit in' and 'blend in' is something you should never do. A lack of time caused some posts to be written but a lack of accepting my own emotions caused 90% of the posts not being posted.

We all need a support network, a place to voice our opinions and to be ourselves. I've had to accept that I am in fact a blogger - something I like a lot. I can't change that. It is a part element of the composition of my identity.

I questioned my identity for many months after starting college. I struggled with being a student, student-teacher, blogger, friend and many more persona's, yet as I type these words, I feel a weight lift. To deny oneself of their identity is a shame.

 I am a writer and a blogger. I feel through words, my comfort comes from the 26 letters comprising of our alphabet. It's my method of making sense of the world, and a blog is another addition of that.

A blog is for voicing our true, genuine thoughts, feelings and emotions. A blog is not for pretending every element of our lives is perfect. A blog is a platform where we should feel enabled to speak with confidence, our words booming and ricocheting across the Internet, not whispering meekly because we're afraid of insulting a person in real life.

It happened to me personally that I was given grief due to the content of my posts in 'real life.' It's an experience that taught me that we must be truthful to ourselves. If we post something that aggravates another, we generally are being truthful.

I have decided to take the plunge once more and post more personal content on The Random Life of Aveen. Several posts I posted as of late have felt so lack lustre, empty and devoid of content and emotion.

It's time to change that. 

Wave goodbye to the posts of poor content and airbrushed emotions.
 Say welcome back to the truthful, gritty posts where I actually discuss my emotions and actions. 



Monday, 21 March 2016

First Year Ball

Last Tuesday was the First Year Ball in college, it's basically the college version of the debs except a little bit more low-key. Here's some photos from the night.
















Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless, 
Aveen x