My disappearing acts.......

Well, *smiles shyly in shame*......it's been more than a hot long minute!

So long, I don't even know where to start or what to write lol.

Let me go and check on the date of my last post......Ok so it wasn't that long ago, just a mere 5 months ago 😅. I mean the timing corresponds with the start of the past semester, which I kid you not, was all kinds of stressful and intense. But alas, stress is but for a moment, and the end of a semester always arrives, bringing with it much needed respite and a sense of achievement. We thank God that I am currently indulging in such a time.

Last semester, I took on a lot more of my major's classes than I have ever taken since I began my degree. You see, my hope and plan is to attempt to graduate early, 'cause truthfully I'm TIRED!! I mean I do pat myself on the back for even coming this far because it has NOT been easy studying difficult content in a language you are STILL learning. But I am truly grateful for all that this experience has taught me and the character it has built in me. I mean I have always been an 'it may be hard but it is not impossible' kind of person, but even more so now. I do feel sorry for my future kids because this will certainly be an experience I will always refer to whenever they try to claim something they need to do is 'impossible'.

I am now entering the final semester of my third year, with one year left after completing this semester. 'Are you excited?' I hear you ask. I don't think that word is able to encapsulate the emotions I have to try very hard to tame as I finally see the light at the end of this very arduous tunnel. Don't get me wrong, I THOROUGHLY enjoy all the content I am learning. I am passionate about it, BUUUUTTTT studying for exams, taking the exams, preparing presentations, writing reports all in Korean takes a toll on the brain, especially when it is a weekly activity. 

Granted, my Korean has significantly improved since I stepped foot here in 2019. The beauty in this is that I didn't really notice how it happened. I have simply just been trusting the process and letting it do its thing!

Due to COVID, however, I have not been able to experience Korea as much as I wanted and in this new year, it is certainly something I am actively going to ensure I do. There are so many beautiful places and experiences to be had in Korea! I cannot have my head only buried in books for the next year and a half. One must also enjoy the scenery. 

I worked my butt off this semester but I was actually convinced I would not do as well as previous semesters because the content we learned in all my classes were very difficult. In two particular classes, half the time I had no idea what the professors were teaching us. This meant I had to buckle down and do ALOT of self-study; hours of research, reading-both in Korean and English; asking ALOT of questions and honestly not giving up. Can you believe I took a Chinese characters class?? What is more unbelievable is that I had to present on historical Chinese characters, their meanings, applications and use in modern media to my Korean peers!! ME!! Loool, to me this was the most hilarious aspect of this semester. However, I worked extremely hard on my presentation, together with my Korean tutor, and on the day of the presentation, my professor could not stop praising the quality of my presentation. Honestly, I was almost in tears, because it was without a doubt the hardest presentation I have ever had to put together . Specifically because it was the first presentation for a major class I had to do alone. 

I had my cousin record me on the day and I may share clips of the video on my YouTube channel if I gain the confidence loool. 

As I have been, I'll share my grades for this semester below. Let us pray that my hard work and God's favour continues to reflect in my grades till I graduate!! That is all for my ramblings for now! Till the next one!

Speak Soon. X