Hi again! 

Week 4 of my time in Amsterdam has now been and gone and I have a few reflections on how it has been. 

What went well this week: 

This week I went to a music event by myself which I really enjoyed, and I finally picked my dissertation options which means I now have more time to focus on work and can put that out of my mind. I also caught up with a few friends and am missing home less now which is good, and makes me feel better about living alone in general. 

What didn’t go so well: 

I unfortunately got slightly ill this week and and while I was still able to come in and work, it was harder for me and felt much less productive than normal - especially since I reached a quite tedious stage of my screening project. This has made me more aware of needing to take time to rest – as I am prone to just powering through until the end of things and then when I have a break coming up I let myself stop. 

While this works for 10 week terms at Cambridge (and probably this to an extent) it is not super sustainable in the long run, especially due to my chronic illness since I can take longer to recover from things. 

Here, I think I have wanted to do so much and see everything – and had not set realistic expectations about what I could do in terms of both this and research in my relatively short time here. 

So, what I will try and do better next is take time to rest – and check in with the people I am working with to set realistic goals I can achieve in the next few weeks. 

See you soon, 

Jasmine