Boarding Life Update

Sorry about the long absence!


A few days after my last post I began the process of (trying) to get everything ready for my return to England. Needless to say, it did not go quite as planned. First of all, there was the issue with managing to get any washing done (to be expected at boarding school, there is always a queue at the time you just don't want there to be one), then there was the issue of remembering that I had not finished my Christmas shopping yet as I had planned to, and THEN a couple of days before I was due to leave, I received a message saying that the electricians on the Danish railway had decided that just before Christmas was the perfect time to strike. Brilliant, eh? Cue mad running around trying to find out what was going on, and being told 'Get to the airport. Find somewhere to sleep and get any train you can NOW!'. So there I was, 7am, over 24 hours before my flight, on my way to the airport. 


Luckily, there was a lovely lady at the airport (who's name I don't know, otherwise I would mention her personally) who managed to get me onto a flight home that day! 


So, that is my explanation for the lack of posts (whilst I was at home I was busy soaking up every second of being at home!). But, I am back at boarding school now. Unfortunately I'm really not enjoying it at the moment. I thought the homesickness I had before I went home for Christmas was going to be the worst it would get. You know, missing home constantly, but able to function pretty normally. Sadly, it seems Christmas did not help. I had an awesome time, don't get me wrong, loved every second, but I really don't want to be back on my own in this room, a day's travel from my parents. So, I know this blog is supposed to be my advice to you guys, but any advice from YOU on coping would be much appreciated. I don't want to waste my time in Denmark, but I really don't know how to enjoy it at the moment. 


Thanks!
Megan
xoxox

Coping With Homesickness Tip #1

This tip will hopefully be useful to those of you living in a dorm (or sharing a room) and those of you with a single room. I personally have a single room, but you can still do this in your area of a shared room, or talk to your room-mate and try to do this together! My tip is, to make your room as cosy as possible.


By this I mean, make it a space that you feel happy when you see. Make it feel like 'your' room. I know this can be really hard when the whole place you're in just feels wrong to you and you'd rather be anywhere but there! Trust me, I know. It took me a little while to get this right, but as soon as you get it right, everything gets so much easier to deal with! Suddenly you have this little haven that you can escape to when everything else gets too much. You have somewhere that feels separate from everything else, because it is yours.


To make your room feel like 'yours', here are some things you could do to your room:

• Get a rug. This made the world of difference with making my room feel cosier and more like someone lived there! It doesn't matter if you don't have much money to spend; try IKEA for some really nice, not too expensive rugs. (Mine came from IKEA).
• Have pictures up. I wouldn't go for too many pictures, as that can make you feel worse and make you miss home more, but a few photos are comforting to look at and make your room more cheerful.
• Decorate your walls as much as possible. I know some boarding schools are quite strict about this, but usually you will be allowed a couple of posters, or you will at least have a pinboard. So, definitely make use of whatever you are allowed to do, and to anyone who likes that kind of thing, fairy lights add a really comforting twinkly glow!
• Have a blanket. By this I mean something along the lines of a fleecy blanket or snuggie that you can use when you're sad (or cold) to curl up under. Yes, even for guys! There's nothing better than a blanket and a good movie or book to take your mind off things! 
• Have an iPod dock or stereo, or just speakers for your computer. I can't tell you the number of times impromptu dance parties have started in people's rooms, and what makes you feel better than dancing and having fun? No speakers= no dancing.

So, now that I am done sounding like your mother/ overly-cheerful welcome person on your first day, I hope some of these tips helped! Really, I would just say to put anything in your room (that you are allowed) that makes you feel at home. Good luck, and remember, you are not there forever!

Megan

xxx

Surviving IB- 4 months in.

Hello!
So, today's topic is surviving IB, from the point of view of 4 months into studying. I'm going to keep this post short as my brain is currently hurting due to two English IOPs (Individual Oral Presentations), so I'll bullet point for you:

• Do your reading homework. I know it seems pointless to start with but trust me, lectures/ lessons are so much easier to understand, and you will get so much more out of it with a bit of prior knowledge. Plus, if you find anything that you don't understand whilst reading, it gives you chance to ask about it during the next lesson.
• Do all your class homework. Again, I know it can feel pointless if you understood what you were doing the first time around, but it DOES help the information to sink in better, and again, you might be fine with the theory, but applying knowledge can be a whole different ball game.
• Leave yourself plenty of time to do Hand Ins. I will admit, that this one took a while for me to achieve. There may have been a couple of up-until-1am episodes, but life is much less stressful (hah, less stress with IB!) now that I have the time to at least work at the Hand Ins slowly.
• If you have a question in class, ASK! This took me a while too, because I am not naturally a very loud person. However, if my school is anything to go on, your grades (from your teachers) are at least based somewhat on class participation. Also, if you don't ask, your teacher doesn't know if you understand or not! I know I always feel like I got so much more out of a class where I left having understood what was going on because I asked questions. And finally, to use the age old saying, you can pretty much guarantee that there is someone else sitting in the class with the same question as you who just doesn't have the guts to ask!
• Make time to relax. The workload can feel overwhelming at times, but if you give yourself allotted time to work, and allotted time to chill, it feels a lot less hectic. IB isn't a mad rush all the time, there are just times that will feel absolutely insane. However, if you have "me time" and keep repeating "It'll be over soon, It'll be over soon" then you can do it, I promise. It's all about time management and not panicking.
• Find ways to motivate yourself. Tell yourself that if you work for 45 minutes, you can have the last 15 minutes of that hour to do something you enjoy, like Facebook, or video games, or whatever you enjoy. I find this one especially useful when working on Hand Ins, because they don't feel quite so insane if you give yourself little breaks.
• Use class time to work. This one sounds obvious, but I don't know how many times I have sat, emailing friends on my computer, looked up and realised that class is over, and I have no idea what happened. It just causes stress and having to catch up, so honestly, try and pay attention.
• Eat breakfast. Really random, but trust me, TOK is much easier to handle when you aren't starving hungry.

So, these are just my few tips from this time set on surviving IB. Take them all as advice from experience, and I hope some of them help. Sorry if they seem obvious, but I know I've had trouble with a few! (She says, saving the blog post and returning to the English Hand In- I took my break! :P )

Thanks for reading, leave any comments below! :)

Megan

xoxox

Why Did I Choose Boarding School?

In all honesty, boarding school was just something I had always wanted to do. I think some people are just born with this desire to experience what it's like living around a few hundred other young people in one house. Either that, or we've all just read too much Harry Potter! But really, I just felt like I was ready for something new. 

To clarify where I am, I am at a boarding sixth form college in Denmark, studying the IB programme (International Baccalaureate), oh, and I am a Coeliac. So, if you're interested in reading about what boarding school is really like (the good parts and bad parts), what the IB programme is like, and how possible it really is to be a boarding student when living with Coeliac Disease, then stick around, I'll be trying to post every day! :D