Thoughts from the hippie..

Exams are OVER! As much as I did try my hardest studying for chemistry, I still think I failed the exam which means I would of failed the subject :( But my other three final exams went really well, definitely happy with them. I guess I just have to wait and see obviously.

Today I'm leaving for Arusha, Tanzania and I'm feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement all at once! I've always been so intrigued by Africa so to finally be able to visit there, even just for three weeks is a dream come true. I can't wait to be completely out of my comfort zone, trying to make the most of each moment and have every experience I possibly can have. Hopefully I'll try to do a blog post while I'm over there, but for now I'll leave you all with a quote that's short and sweet...

 The sun doesn't set for a wild heart.

Thoughts from the hippie...

Thoughts from the hippie...

This week is the first week of SWOTVAC... the week before exam block where there are no lectures, no tutes, just study. Generally I'm pretty good with my study in this week although thinking back on previous SWOTVACs I probably haven't applied myself as much as I could have. This time though, it's different. This week is going to be hibernation study week for chemistry. I'm currently failing this subject right now so I do need a lot more than a pass for this subject. The thought of failing a subject actually terrifies me a little, especially the thought of failing chemistry. But I must remember it's not the end of the world if I do fail, I just have to do it again in semester one 2013, and it won't take any longer to do my degree. Who knows, if I do fail maybe there's some lesson to be learnt for me. I don't know, but I do have a good feeling that this week I will go study nuts. I'll update next Sunday to see just how much I committed myself to study. I really have no excuses, I'm not working all week (except Saturday night), I have no other commitments, just study! I must remember this isn't going to kill me, studying all the time is only for three weeks and that's it, three weeks and I'm free of this semester. I'm also scared of telling people that I failed, I feel like because I've spent so long figuring out what degree I actually want to do, I should be coasting by getting it done as quickly as I can. I think I will be fine studying for my other three subjects, it's mainly just chemistry I'm terrified of. All in all, this is a bit of a useless post, it's more just for me to be accountable to myself, telling myself this is what I'm going to do, this is what needs to be done, it's not forever, no excuses.

Thoughts from the hippie...

"She loved life and it loved her right back
celebrate her passion
She listened to her heart above all other voices
celebrate her wisdom
She pursued big dreams instead of small realities
celebrate her priorities
She saw every ending as a new beginning
celebrate her resiliency
She discovered real measurements had nothing to do with numbers or statistics
celebrate her self-esteem
She was kind loving and patient...with herself
celebrate her tenderness
She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses
celebrate her accountability
She realized that she was missing a great deal by being sensible
celebrate her spirit
She turned her cant's into cans and her dreams into plans
celebrate her goals
She ignored people who said it couldnt be done
celebrate her independence
She had a way of turning obstacles into opportunities
celebrate her magic
She went out on a limb had it break behind her and she discovered she could fly
celebrate her faith
She discovered that she was the one she'd been waiting for
celebrate her self reliance
She added so much beauty to being human
celebrate her presence
She walked in when everyone else walked out
celebrate her friendship
She just had this way of brightening the day
celebrate her radiance
She made the whole world feel like home
celebrate her warmth
She decided to enjoy more and endure less
celebrate her choices
She decided to start living the life she'd imagined
celebrate her freedom
She coloured her thoughts with only the brightest colours
celebrate her optimism
She was an artist and her life was her canvas
celebrate her brillance
She ran ahead where there were no paths
celebrate her bravery
She crossed borders recklessly, refusing to recognise limits, saying bon jour and buon giorno as though she owned both France and Italy and the day itself
celebrate her joie de vivre
She held her head high and looked the world straight in the eye
celebrate her strength
She not only saw a light at the end of the tunnel she became that light for others
celebrate her compassion
She designed a life she loved
celebrate her joy
She took the leap and built her wings on the way down
celebrate her daring
She said bye-bye to unhealthy relationships
celebrate her happiness
She remained true to herself
celebrate her authenticity
She made the world a better place
celebrate her" - Unknown

Thoughts from the hippie...

This image very much came into my mind today as myself and three close friends climbed up to the summit of Mt Tibrogarban. This climb was so much harder than Mt Warning, it's insane, I think it's because when you're climbing up the rocks to get to the top of Mt Warning you at least have a chain to hold on but at Mt Tibrogarban if you want to do the climb to the top, there's no chain and the majority of the climb is crazy steep... here are a few examples to give you an idea...

 I found it more scary going down than I did climbing to the top. There were two clear times going down where I had kind of gotten stuck and honestly thought to myself 'oh fuck, what have I got myself into, why did I put my body in this position where my foot can't touch the next rock, I'm going to get hurt!' The first time that happened I had help from a lovely stranger who could tell by my body shaking like crazy and my breaths sounding a little bit too quick that I didn't know what to do. This person took my back pack off me and talked me through how I needed to change my position to get down safetly, the whole time being so incredibly patient with me as it took me ages to just do small simple changes, I appreciated it immensely, ah the kindness of strangers! The next time was a lot more scarier, it's hard to explain what I had to do but I'll try. I was kind of in this corner of these rocks with the front of my body facing outwards, not into the rocks, it had gotten to the point where I wouldnt be able to squat down to stretch my leg out to get to the next rock down from me, I needed to get to the other side of this corner thing I was in to be able to get down, so with the help of my friend's boyfriend I had to swing my body and kind of jump at the same time around the corner onto this extremely small space to be able to get down properly. It was with the help of my friend's boyfriend's arm as a support that I was only able to do this, it felt like my heart was beating a million times a minute. But that's the thing afterwards I felt amazing, reaching the top of this mountain was hard, going down even harder, but all the fear, the physicalness all outweighed how accomplished you feel afterwards, you feel all like yeah, I did THIS! The view was sensational as well..

It was so satisfying being out of my comfort zone today, can't wait for it to happen again!

Thoughts from the hippie...

WOOO! Today I ran the furthest I've ever ran before! It was only two kilometres more than my furthest, but still, it was more than what it was. This morning I ran 30 km, felt so good and so bad at the same time. My legs feel like death but I still feel so happy with myself.

Thoughts from the hippie...

Aaaahh I apologise for this, this is going to be a boring rant, but I want to get it out...

I don't know of anything else that makes me feel as shit as university does. I'll be giving it so much money by the end, feeling like I've been a machine for the past four years and hating that there's no compromise with subjects. I understand that each degree needs to have its own list of subjects that everyone needs to do but I think a better way of the list instead of having 'compulsory' and 'elective' lists, why don't they just merge the two lists together to create a mega list that students can pick from ourselves for OUR degree that we have to pay for. Sure I think they can still set your minimum requirement of first, second, third and fourth year subjects, but fuck, at least let us choose the subjects to create our own degree. For example, I have to do a first year chemistry course. I hate chemistry, I thought I did ok on the mid-semester exam, turns out I failed, thought I did ok on the last online quiz, nooo turns out I failed that too. Now I'm going to start going to a tutor to help me understand why I think I was understanding chemistry when I actually wasn't, just so I can pass my final exam which I have to do to pass chemistry. This chemistry subject is the only chemistry subject that is compulsory for me to do for the whole time I'm at uni and I'm 100% sure I'm not going to remember a thing once it's over and that I'm not going to use it. I understand that chemistry is interesting, amazing and useful but it's just not for me so why do I have to pay for something that I hate and I'm not going to use or remember?! By having just one list of subjects to choose from I could create my degree suited for me and not be so bitter about uni.