How I'm Preparing for University During Lockdown

The last few months have been far from what any of us expected, with the whole lockdown situation taking all of us by surprise. I realized that with all of what has been happening in the world right now, I was still lucky enough to be able to stay safe at home, that too with all of this newfound free-time that I knew I wanted to make the best of.

Although I do usually attempt to keep myself busy and my mind engaged, I also definitely have my days where I sit around in bed binge-watching a show on Netflix all day and I think that is completely alright as well! In difficult times like these, what’s most important is to do what makes you most happy, remain balanced, take care of your physical and mental health and remember that the amount of ‘work’ you make yourself do does not define your self-worth.

On that note, although there is still a good amount of time left for university to begin, starting med-school is something I’ve been looking forward to for so long and if anything, doing a few things on the sides to help me prepare for it has just gotten me more eager!

The first thing I did was join the official Facebook groups for my firmed university choice, giving me the chance to speak to other offer-holders and students alike. I have also been speaking to students from other medical schools through this platform and being an international applicant, doing so provided me with some great insight on what to expect as a university student in the UK.

Secondly, although it is in no means a compulsion, I enrolled myself in a few free online courses. The first course that I signed up for was psychology crash course, giving me an introduction to college-level psychology, because of no reason but my own plain curiosity towards the subject. Psychology has always appealed to me and I was quite keen on taking it up as a subject during higher secondary as well, I changed my mind about this later due to certain circumstances that came up but this course was such a great way to make up for it and I’m not going to lie, learning because of your own free will and without the pressure of assignments and exams that count towards an important grade definitely makes the experience a lot more enjoyable in some ways. I’m also currently in the midst of a physiology and anatomy course, these subjects being of more relevance towards medical school. Pre-preparation like this is certainly not necessary and students in med-school do perfectly fine with just tackling the course content as it comes but the reason I chose to enroll for these courses is just so I’m not overwhelmed when university begins and have a decent base-knowledge for the content to come, it’s also a great way to revise some previous knowledge that I could potentially forget.

Health and well-being wise, I’ve been trying to engage in some cardio and work-outs on a regular basis (Definitely guilty of not paying attention to this aspect of my lifestyle as much as I should have during school and exam season, but your girl’s working on it!). I hopped on the bandwagon and decided to give Chloe Ting’s workout plans a try and surprisingly, I’ve actually been enjoying them (however, up-and-down planks will forever be the death of me). I also like to go out on walks every once in a while, realizing what wonders just a little bit of fresh air and watching some sunsets can do for you sometimes.

I happened to be one of those people who previously had absolutely zero culinary skills, expecting to get through life on instant noodles and chocolate cereal, but thankfully, this lockdown has helped changed that a little, if I say so myself. Although I still have a long way to go before I really master cooking and baking, I’ve been trying to learn some absolute essential recipes to help me survive through university, occasionally trying my hand at fancy cakes and delicacies from other cuisines (but admittedly, not always successfully.)

I’ve also tried to utilize this time to engage in some hobbies that I previously could not make time for, things that I’d lost touch with as the years went by. I happened to be a very avid reader and artist when I was younger but I lost touch with those things as I grew older so it was certainly quite refreshing to get back to enjoying doing the activities I loved most. I’ve probably already read more books during this lockdown than I have in the last 2 years combined and that’s something I’m very happy with. As for art, I’m definitely not amazing at it but I really enjoy the whole process of working on everything I create and you can’t get better without practice or patience of course.

For the first time in a long time, I can also finally binge my heart out on all the TV shows and movies I’ve been meaning to catch up on, without feeling guilty about it! I've come across some great finds to watch during this time and I have my favorites as well but maybe that’s a blog post for another time?

Most important of all though, I’ve really been trying to re-connect with the people closest to me over the last few months, making the most of this time by spending it with my family and friends (virtually and maintaining the social distancing of course).

I hope everyone’s staying safe and well. How have you been spending the last few months? Feel free to drop your answers in the comments or my inbox which is always open!