It feels like a long time since I showed up here and while I've been away from hive for longer periods, none of those other breaks have felt as long as this. The last two months have felt like two years because I've been through a lot. My daily routine has drastically changed and I've been more stressed than ever. My mental health has been tested, physical health in zombie mode, and I'm barely coping emotionally.
I've had to switch from being a chill work-from-home babe/wife/homemaker to being a busy Masters student, wife/homemaker and factory worker. It didn't take long to quickly adjust to balancing it all out because I have no choice. Let's not forget I also have to be a daughter, sister and friend too. I've had to have a few conversations with those who raised concerns that I wasn't living lavida loca here, I was fighting to survive this relocation.
Above all, my main concern remains my schooling and it hasn't been bad at all. Asides the heap of assessments we have to do, I'm enjoying my program and it's met all my expectations and even better. The system of learning is different from what we have in my home country, we do more of discussions here and our classes are very interactive.
In one month and a few, I have talked in class way more than I did in my combined past 19 years of formal education, and I'm being very intentional about it. I speak more in class because it's a way of improving my public speaking skills and learning more from my lecturers and colleagues when I bring in my perspective.
The tough part about school is the little time we have to do a lot of reading, research and writing. I had felt worried about my academic writing skills and doubted myself. The last time I did academic writing was for a paid gig four years ago and so I felt out of touch. The style of writing here is also different from my past education as one has to be very critical and provide evidence.
I felt so overwhelmed(still am) that I found it hard to begin my first assignment. It took a long while to come up with the first line for a very short essay, but when I began, the words flowed. We have a lot of resources to help with our study so I sought help from one of the library tutors who was really helpful with some tips. I think that has to be one of my favourite things about schooling here, we have so many resources to help us with the program.
One weird thing though, is finding out a huge percentage of my class is Nigerian. I'm in a foreign land but it doesn't really feel like that at school because I'm surrounded by seemingly familiar faces. Even in the streets, on buses, it's everywhere. Nottingham is such a multi-cultural city and it makes people-watching so much fun.
I've basically been living a triangular life, it's either I'm at school, home or work. My husband and I have been out a few times but that was before our stressful jobs started kicking our butts. Every 'free' time we get now, we have to catch as much sleep and rest as we can. I hope it all works out for us and we get the jobs we want soon enough, that way, we get more time for ourselves and can begin to explore this new environment properly.
For now, we're trying our best to keep up with life here, seeking more opportunities, supporting each other, and being better people. Wish us luck 🤞