I finally went trough my most feared time of my semester abroad, Finals Week.

Every day I was either studying, relaxing on the beach, or having a good time with friends, my brain was constantly reminding me that finals week was getting closer and closer and I had lots of work to do. But I also didn't want to miss a single activity. FOMO (Fear of missing out) was going to kill me.

I needed to do a veeerrry long history essay, an economics exam and an architectural construction project that was going to take years to finish; yes the ones that makes architecture students stay awake for weeks. So I was kinda worried.

My biggest concern was losing too much time doing homework instead of having fun. I would say that studying in Sydney is like switching from studying and being in vacation mode from one second to another. As I've said lots of times in my previous posts, the thing that I like the most about this city is being in class at 10:00 and being able to be at the beach at 11:00. Sometimes it's hard for me to understand that I came here to study and not for a 6 month break, even if sometimes it feels like that.

So, how did I dealt with it? I decided it was time to organise and to make the most of my time. Instead of spending two or three whole days inside a room reading and writing an essay I made the decision to do my readings and writing up ideas while I was on the bus and trains. I normally spend about 6 to 7 hours a week on buses and trains, which is a lot of wasted time if you don't know how to use it. As a result, I can say I wrote my whole essay on a train and it didn't felt like I was doing homework at all! I actually made time on board feel like it passed way faster.

However, there was absolutely nothing I could do to avoid spending too much time on my architecture project. I spent days in front of the computer working and working and working without seeing an end in sight but I finally managed to finish it within a few hours of the deadline. I can't complain about that. I chose to be an architect.

I can also say that I didn't just learn new subjects, I discovered new ways of learning and different points of view from the tutors and students about all sorts of topics. I was working in teams which made it easier to make friends.

This was definitely a new experience for me!

Bernardo Chavez Peon (Study Abroad Communications Ambassador, Autumn 2018)

Architecture

Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México