Sunday 1 October 2017

Review: September 2017

Did I do anything this month? Hmm.

BIOLOGY: Continued studying biology, writing notes on chapters of Campbell's Biology. I had to take a week off because handwriting ~90 pages and typing another ~30 over the summer gave me tennis elbow, according to the doctor. It was the most frustrating thing -- I never realised how many things I used my hands for until doing anything with them was paaain. To add illness to injury, over the last couple of days of September and the start of October, I've come down with a horrible cold/flu and it has rekt me. 

Anyway, I eventually finished the Genetics and Evolution units. 


Also, studying Biology is the best. At the start of the month, I couldn't stop talking to everyone I met about what I'd just studied (Cell Cycle and Speciation). It's just so cool. A cool thing that happened, for example, was that after spending the day studying genetics with the example of genetics of labrador fur colour and what makes it yellow/brown/black, I stepped outside and ran into a yellow lab and a brown lab. Very cool. Some pictures of me having fun studying: 

HARVARD: I did my Harvard final exam in a Pearson testing centre in Dublin on the 1st of September. It went alright, still waiting on my results though. 

MOVING OUT: Leon and I moved into our new apartment on the 15th. It's in a gorgeous area, right next to the DART, is super bright, gives us a really nice room, is pretty cheap and has a dishwasher. Nice. I've honestly been finding doing chores like laundry fun because adulting.

STARTING BACK AT COLLEGE: I've had two weeks of college so far, Freshers Week where I (wo)manned the Physoc stand and then one week of lectures, though only Chemistry and Maths lectures and a Biology lab because Biology lectures don't start until this week. I love my maths lecturer so much, she's great. Doing the Biology post-practical homework was pretty fun too, and the Evolution labs look like great fun. Tonight I have to watch David Attenborough videos for homework. 

PHYSOC: Like I said, I was on the Physoc stand for Freshers Week from 18th to 23rd September, and apart from that am settling into my job as Secretary (fewer errands and more responsibility in comparison to last year's role as first year rep, which I like). Sending the emails and taking minutes suits me better so all g here. Also had a good time at the Quiz we ran last week.

LABLINN: We've been organising a Training Day for the team for workshops, talking to schools, and are working on planning the competition. Also, we published this post by Ella Willsmore on why it's so hard to develop a malaria vaccine. 

LEAKYCON: Went to the last day of LeakyCon on the first of September. Pretty good. 

BLOG: I published 8 blog posts in September and started working on a ninth (about my experience finding accommodation during Dublin's rental crisis). I'm writing posts at about double the rate I need to hit the goal of a post a week but college can get very intense so want to stock up. Click for links to posts:


READING: I read three books and started a fourth in September. Click for links to my reviews:
I've just started Beating Back the Devil by Maryn McKenna, and next up is probably Kelly Hoey's Build Your Dream Network. The goal is to read an average of two books a month so, like with the blog, I've been trying to do a few extra in prep for intense college times, though definitely being more successful with the blog.


So the answer to the question at the start of this post is ... sort of. It feels like I didn't do much, but it's more that I did a couple of big things and very few one-day events that would be listed separately. 

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