Studying, work, socialising, travelling, exercising, and more studying. It can be a lot to handle! Student Ambassador Maria from Chile gives us her insights into managing all of these things, while managing yourself too. Follow along with her second blog to see how she does it…
My name is Maria and I’m from Chile. I’m doing a postgraduate degree in Business in CCT college. The social media that you can easily find me is on Instagram (@cotegirones).
Working hard! (photo: Maria)
I’ll be completely honest… taking time to write this was difficult. This semester has been a bit heavy, I’m not only studying but I’m also working in two places! My first job is as a waitress in Mackenzie’s restaurant, and my second job is as a receptionist in Abigail’s Hostel. To be fair both places are so different but I love them anyway. One of the things that has helped me to manage all of this tiredness and stress, is to work with people that I like because then I can disconnect from anything that is keeping me worried. And, you get to have fun while you work too!
Organising your time is important to keep a good balance in your life. What works really well for me is to be as concentrated as possible in class so I don’t have to go back to the recordings and listen to the class again. Separating my days into which days I’ll only focus on studying and nothing else, and what days I can go out with my friends, go to work, or do activities has been helpful too. Getting a calendar to log all of the important dates and times for your college, work and personal schedules is useful too. I usually get my roster for work over the weekend so after I get it I can start organising how my following week will be.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (photo: Maria)
Of course there’s not a magic formula to get everything sorted and sometimes you can’t do everything that you will want. There will be weeks more busy than others and weeks that you won’t be able to go out and when I talk about going out, you will always have to sacrifice your sleep hours! For me, the biggest sacrifice when going out is my sleep.
Stunning Dublin sky (photo: Maria)
Rainbow breaking through the clouds (photo: Maria)
There are good and bad days, days that you will be more tired than others. Days where you will see everything dark but then when walking towards work you will see a beautiful rainbow that in one way or another, makes you realise how beautiful it is and how lucky you are to be present in that moment.
The types of jobs that you can easily access when you are a visa holder will be “basic” jobs but it will always depend on what you are willing to accept. If you ever think about getting two jobs, the advice that I can give you from my experience is: be prepared for taxes and get different types of jobs. If one of your jobs requires a lot of physical effort, get a second one that doesn’t require as much moving, otherwise you’ll be wrecked all the time.
Maria is studying Business at CCT College Dublin.