2020 can kiss my a**. Or maybe not.

12/01/2021
by Layla
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Academia / Something personal

Well, that’s quite a title. Sorry for that mouthful.

It hasn’t been the best of years for everyone. A lot of people lost their jobs, their loved ones due to the goddamned pandemic, poor governance*, not to mention the way George Floyd was killed–I CAN GO ON ALL NIGHT.

I won’t mince words. I really hated 2020. It felt like going back to 2016 when my mental health was in The Worst Shape Ever, and I was really wasn’t a wonderful person to hang out with back then. I’ll admit that. I have to admit that I am still an odd duck in a lot of ways. And odd is an understatement. #sorryIwasabitchbackthen Read More

Yes, you can teach this girl new tricks.

05/11/2020
by Layla
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Academia / Graduate School / Life Lately / Productivity / Something personal

NB: This pic was taken a year ago. I haven’t been to the UP Diliman campus since the Enhanced Community Quarantine was announced in March. So yeah, I miss my university.

While I’m enrolled right now, attending classes on Zoom is a different ballgame. I know this feature picture is totally irrelevant to the current blog topic, but this university has given me a new lease on life, and it has given my confidence back. I do acknowledge that that newly regained confidence is only a small piece of the puzzle, having managed to survive graduate school–and to do well in the first semester–and it is all due to hard work.

But I would like to say it’s because I  was also willing to try something new. And this is what this blog post is about.

I have friends who asked me how was I able to survive my first semester of graduate school, it was all down to five things: a goal to work towards, discipline, determination, working smart, and yes, a willingness to try something new. I wanted to make graduate school work. So I invested time in making sure it worked. How? Watching YouTube videos of studytubers. No, I’m not kidding. And I’m still doing it now. Read More

Related Post

A few of my favourite apps to help me study

Sorry, I just couldn’t shake this off.

14/10/2020
by Layla
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Life Lately / Mental Health / Something personal

Trigger warning: suicide.

A few weeks ago, my work friends and I encountered huge traffic on our way home, which was an understatement. We checked in on Waze, to see what was going on. And we found out that someone committed suicide somewhere near where we live.

It made me think about a lot of things. First off, about the person who committed suicide. Of course, I don’t know him or her, but I can only imagine how he must have felt like. That he or she is already in a dark place, and of course, the pandemic didn’t make things better. But I uttered a short, silent prayer that God will take care of that person, and make sure that he or she will be okay. Read More

The Life-Changing Magic of Having Everything You Need On Your Desk

10/09/2020
by Layla
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Graduate School / Life Lately / Productivity / Something personal

I usually prepare my room for a life change every year (well, almost every year). Going back to school, or just plain needing a change, my room’s layout gets revamped. And while I acknowledge that it is very labour intensive and er, dusty, the results are totally worth the muscle pain and allergic rhinitis.

Tidying up also involves my desk, and I make sure I have everything I need within reach, so it’ll save me time trying to fumble with drawers and looking for things. Let me take you for a mini-desk tour, where I’ll show you all what’s on my desk.

I’ve had this desk since I was in high school. My father bought it from a Japanese surplus store, and it was such a wonderful surprise since he bought us our very own study tables whilst my sister, brother and I was away at camp! However, I’m considering getting a new one as I need something larger that can also make room for a printer. For now, though, I can make do. Read More

Sipping on Something Good: Strawberry Cream Cheese Milk

05/09/2020
by Layla
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Food Glorious Food / The Chubby Girl's Kitchen

Studying without eating is unthinkable–in my books, at least.

And since there’s food, there has to be some kind of drink, right? To be honest, I’m quite excited about this drink, and how it’s borne out of an experiment and an inspiration.

I’ve been drinking a lot of milk teas with different flavours and the one that struck me most was the “cocoa cream cheese” one. But since I have had trouble sleeping lately, caffeinated drinks were out of the question.

Inspiration struck. I have strawberry milk powder and strawberry jam.  So I put myself to work. With a bit of whisking, and stirring, and a lot of trial and error, my little drink baby was born: a lovely concoction of cream, strawberry milk powder, strawberry jam and cream cheese. And boy, it tasted so good. 😉 Read More

Recently Read 3 || American Duchess by Karen Harper

01/09/2020
by Layla
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Books / Favourites

This is the last of the three books I have read during the three-month quarantine that I am reviewing. As well, it would be the last non-academic reading material I will be engaging in as school will start in two weeks! I have to admit though that I am quite excited about going back to school, online, or otherwise.

The American Duchess is not the first book I have read from Karen Harper’s work. It was engaging, and the marketing tagline was “Before there was Meghan Markle, there was Consuelo Vanderbilt.” As I was fascinated by the lives of those “Million Dollar American Princesses”, I was overjoyed to find the book in Scribd, of all places. Read More