Update: Scholastic Endeavors

-
It's been a while! The last post I wrote was about my term break travelling through Southern Africa, and a lot has happened since. Essentially, the IB continues to ramp up! I feel consistently frazzled, and it's a reminder of how I felt this time last year when I was working for a mayoral campaign that was in the last stretch of the campaign period. But honestly I'm more stressed now. Exams start next week and I've not begun to study. Everyone is overwhelmed. I think part of the issue lies in the fact that all the projects I have now are longer term ones - my extended essay, which I'm expected to spend a minimum of 40 hours on, my 20 page director's notebook, a 12 page bio research paper, a 20 minute Theory of Knowledge presentation. And that's on top of CAS and co curriculars and friends and sleep and sanity. This course is a lot. I haven't cried yet this term, but it's getting to that point. And I still have over one year to go! I'm sorry that this update is so short and doesn't convey much, but my brain is currently not working like a brain really should. But if you want to hear about anti-malarial programs in the Comoros, or the tensile strength of hair types, or an analysis of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, or my ideas for a direction of Simon Stone's 'Yerma', hit me up. Right now it's all swirling in my head.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time to say goodbye

-
 This blog post has been a long time coming, but it feels right to write it now, at the start of a new chapter, and a new year. I began this blog with the intention of telling stories and I hope that I've accomplished that. I also began it as a way to give myself tangible memories, and rereading old posts feels like a wave from an old friend.  I got my final IB results two days ago and I think that marked the true end of my UWC experience. Thinking about those results has been something that's been weighing on me all through this long, awful year. Until the final paper was written, the final exam was sat, I felt that there was always the chance that I wouldn't finish the IB. No matter how much support I had from friends and family, I always had the knowledge that choosing to stop would've been so easy.  I've had friends this year that have chosen to step back from the IB, either temporarily or permanently, and I'm so proud of them for prioritising their own heal
Read more

Kamhlaba and COVID-19

-
At the end of my last year at Waterford, I collaborated with two friends on a devised theatre piece. It told the story of three friends from three different contexts, who experienced an unspecified, dramatic event that forced them to leave one another. It followed them through their separated lives through a series of monologues. While we were creating the piece we discussed what the catalyst should be, before deciding to leave it to the audience. We represented it by the audio of an explosion, and simply referred to it as 'The Move.' 'The Move,' we decided, could represent climate crisis, financial crash, war, natural disaster, and more. I don't think we ever talked about a pandemic. Each of our characters had different reactions to the move, each of them could only do so much, each was limited by her context. During the workshopping process, we had long talks about how we would feel if we ever had to leave Waterford, if we were forced out. I thought a lot about th
Read more

Back on a Beach: Maia in Moz

-
Image
Mozambique felt like the beaches and small towns of my childhood - market stalls under rusted corrugated metal roofs, pyramids of tomatoes, no shoes in site but flip flops, clear water and sizzled skin and greenery. We arrived in the afternoon, piling out of our kombi. It took a bit of walking before arriving at our Airbnb - a barebones house up a hill that could fit the ten of us quite comfortably. We made a food run, and spent the first night crashed in the living room lit by lamps and candles (there was a town wide power outage.) We ate freshly baked bread and drank cheap Mozambican rum and beer and played drinking games in the dark. (Credit to Endi and Julia - they came up with a Waterford-specific boardgame called 'Highway to Hell.' Emhlabeni people take a shot.) The next morning sent us in search of the beach. It was wonderful. I haven't swum in the Indian ocean since I was fourteen, and it felt like it welcomed me back. The water was warm, the wav
Read more