During the latter half of 2021, pursuing a variety of activities throughout the day may have become challenging for you. Therefore, I have decided to provide insight into my typical day during my first year at UNSW whilst in lockdown. Although seemingly unorthodox, this daily schedule has revamped the passion in my unmotivated self to be excited for the days to come and make the most of the first-year university experience, despite being behind closed doors! 

10am: I know right! Pretty late, but not too late to start a new day. My general wake-up routine consists of a lot of reading whilst sitting in the sun and eating my butter and marmalade toast to go with some nice coffee. I’ve been getting into the classics recently since I got gifted a kindle on my birthday, still trying to finish Gone with the Wind. The only person that ends up disrupting me every morning is my greedy little pug who always wants the corner pieces of my toast. Naturally I give in to her demands. 

11:30am: Following reading, I start the day with various forms of procrastination! I have developed a recent obsession with Geoguessr, where I virtually explore a map of a new country that I would love to visit someday. Most recently I have been exploring the regions of Eastern Europe including places like Romania and Bulgaria, which are generally devoid of significant attention in the media today. Then, I’ll watch two or three YouTube videos that jump out to me on my homepage. This generally proves to be a terrible idea as I commonly venture into various lengthy mini documentaries until finally realising the time. 

4:30pm: After watching lectures and participating in tutorials for the day, the most interesting part of my day begins where I do after school tutoring for high school students. I tutor students in Extension Maths, Physics and Chemistry which keeps me very occupied, and rather than making me exhausted as the common perception goes, engages me more instead! There is something about the moment where a concept finally clicks in one of my students’ minds that makes me feel extremely satisfied. I normally refer to this as the “Oh, now I get it!” moment. But more than my personal satisfaction, I often end up learning so much more from teaching students than the material I’m helping them out with. My joy of teaching has made me rekindle my high school ambitions in pursuing a career in academia down the line. 

8:30pm: After sitting in a chair for almost the whole day, it feels great to jump outside and exercise a bit during this time. Especially with the cool breeze during the night and the absence of many crowds around the basketball court I go to, its honestly the part of my day where I truly relax. I live in the Eastern Suburbs, so most of the time my friend nearby comes out to play me one on one. This activity makes me more eager to get through the earlier parts of the day. Seeing my friend face-to-face really boosts my morale during lockdown. 

10pm: I’ve always felt more comfortable studying during night hours, mainly because of the quietness when my parents are not in meetings all day and my brother is not in online school in the shared study next to me. I put on some nice music, which helps with getting through a lot of the questions, especially when I’m working on any Math courses. The choice of music differs from course to course, from RnB and jazz rap with Maths to classical instrumentals for Chemistry and Physics. It’s a weird combination but trust me it works!