Balance

I'm writing this on a Monday, I came home from college and attempted to do some lab work but couldn't get my head around it so resorted to watching two episodes of Private Practice, and that's ok because college is all about balance. 

I'm the type of person who gets overwhelmed with workloads quite easily and with self directed labs, seven modules, grades deciding what my degree will be, and even more labs, you can definitely say that college is proving to be difficult. Everyone that I have talked to in all different disciplines have all said the same thing, second year is a lot harder than expected. For some people this year counts towards their degree, others might have more difficult modules while I on the other hand have to do as well as I can to get into my preferred degree programme next year. But what I'm slowly realising is that you can't spend your days and nights in the library but you can't relax and do nothing either, you need to find an in-between. 

You could even have trouble finding time to do everything; societies, academic work, a social life, part time job, it really isn't easy being a college student. It's ok to get overwhelmed about everything and let's be honest, we all have weekly breakdowns about it. A few of my friends have said "Ailbhe, how do you do everything you do" and I honestly reply with I don't even know myself. Going back to college has definitely been mental. 

Prioritising what's most important always helps me, even writing a list of everything down that needs to done in the near future and figuring out which is most important. I think it's good to prioritise what's going on in your life too, whether that's a committee you're on for a society or a sports team you're involved with, writing them down and prioritising them always helps.

Being organised is what helps keep yourself in check. If you have an assignment due or a meeting to be at then write it down, I picked up a diary in the student centre and it's so handy just to put everything. Having everything in one place and knowing what you have to do will help with the whole stress and breakdowns thing. 

The most important thing in all of this is yourself including your health both mental and physical. It is so easy to get rundown and sick in college, sometimes missing one Thursday will be a god send on your physical health because you won't be dying sick for the next week. Sometimes taking a night off study is needed after a tough day and sometimes you need to put yourself before other things and people because at the end of the day there is only one you and you only have one body for your life so you need to take care of it. 

Onto the outfit before we all get to deep and meaningful! This is a very typical college outfit for me although somedays I will just turn up in a hoodie (if you want to read more about my college fashion then click here). I always layer up because some lecture halls are cold others are roasting and you never know what the weather will be like in Ireland. I started off with this striped bell sleeve top and layered my go to camel coat over it. Bell and puffed sleeves have been huge the past few months and this top is a good way to make it more everyday appropriate. 

Photography by Darragh 

Denim is always a good idea so I tucked the striped top into this denim and added a basic black belt. Tights are a must at this stage because is has definitely gotten a lot colder and I of course wore my black boots. I have been living in them since I got them. A sturdy pair of boots are a necessity for Autumn/Winter whether you're in college or not and these are definitely a solid pair that I will be getting a lot of wear out of this year. I then threw on my usual jewellery as always. 

Top & Belt - Penneys 
Skirt - H&M
Coat - Stradivarius 
Boots - New Look 
Necklaces - Vintage & Stradivarius 
Watch - Vintage Gucci 

So there we have it, a bit of a personal chat about the stresses of college and balancing it all with an outfit thrown in. I hope you enjoyed and I'll talk to ye soon,
Ailbhe x