Network engineer in the making | 23 | USA | studyblr/bookblr/whatever
246 posts
Latest Posts by illusoryxdays - Page 3
the least helpful study buddy
24 April 2025
Exercised for the first time in years yesterday and today I'm paying the price of that negligence 😐 I have a test (crystallochem) and a final (chem tech seminar) next week but I'm feeling all right about both, did some studying for the latter this morning. April has been kind of dragging on - the whole semester has, actually - but I'm not upset about it: I'm in no hurry to graduate lol.
Finished reading Rouge earlier this week and I can easily say Mona Awad never disappoints. She has to be one of my favorite authors. My current read is pictured here and so far it's been very promising too! Feels a little like Jane Austen but funnier and more serious simultaneously. You can find me on storygraph btw :) I'm @/erbium there 🧪
22.04.2025 // 9/30: Had to travel to a doctors appointment so I didn't get to do much learning today. Continued my Erinnerungskultur course which was weirdly relaxing because it was all about the Asterix comics.
Day 45 🍓
2025.4.17
software engineer diaries 👩💻 project presentation day 📝
this is the biggest project and the most involved i've been in a project from beginning to (hopefully) end and i need to pitch my execution plan to our engineering team today. i've done these kinds of presentations many times before and prepared thoroughly, so i'm not nervous about the meeting itself, just about the scope, scale, scheduling and responsibilities i have for this project in general. i just have to remind myself that at a certain point it becomes a little too unproductive to think too many steps ahead. i'll take my time and put it together piece by piece 😌
🎯 agenda today:
📝 team check-in meeting
💻 presentation meeting
👩💻 follow-up tasks (notes consolidation, further research)
🤝 meeting with my mentor
📝 ticketing (task breakdown for actual execution)
🗓️ send out follow-up schedules
4.21.25
Today went a little bit better than it has been lately. I managed to lock in over the weekend and finish quite a bit of problem sets for discrete math. Final exam this week 🤌
☀️ day off diaries 🫐 the freedom of having no set routine...🧋
... is kind of driving me insane tbh, but i really want to finish this manuscript before i go on my trip, so i'm giving it all my energy 🤗 i can do it for at least another week before i really lose it officially 😂
🧘♀️ meditation
🦵 physiotherapy exercises
✒️ wrote 2k words for my sci-fi novel
🇯🇵 japanese lesson
🎧 korean input
📚 read The Apothecary Diaries
❤️ family time
🚶♀️ went for a walk
🎞️ movie night
📒 journal + come up with a more sustainable writing routine
💌: i just realized that i don't really know how to enjoy my hobbies casually 😅 i always go all in until i either burnout or achieve something, whichever comes first 🙃 anyone else do this or is this just my weird habit? 😶
tuesday | april 15
lots of biochem going on this term – if i'm not working through a paper for my seminar class, i've got gels to annotate or protocols to study.
SDS-PAGE from a protein purification i did in last week's lab – not 100% pure, but i'm happy with the yield. personally i would have used more resin (that flowthrough is just begging to be repurified) but it wasn't my call.
i go to bars and coffee shops and breweries and libraries and thrift stores all the time by myself and i have a chill banger time i love my own company. so why is the grocery store a warzone. im fighting for my life. barely make it out alive. if someone even looks at me i want to blow them up with my mind
💫 Apr 3, 2025
stats and snacks
i love you vaccines i love you research i love you reading the book instead of having chatgpt summarize it i love you critically thinking rather than reacting to a headline i love you investigating the source material i love you science i love you math even though you are personally my enemy (math/yn slowburn) i love you writing even though you try to stab me a lot i love you Experts in Your Field i love you Using The Brain
25/03/29
I've pulled a few really long office days this week.
physics grind RAHHHHHHHHH
April 10, 2025
Somehow April has managed to go so slowly and fast at the same time. Time to lock in for finals.
Worked for ~5h so far.
-Summarised 2 novels
-finished notes on economic theories
-currently taking notes on the EUs economic market
(-> ended up with ~7h in total and somehow managed to catch up on everything I didn’t do yesterday??)
monday | april 14
pretty sure i blinked at the end of march and the first two weeks of the term passed instantly? i've been busy, but gratifyingly so – i'm learning so much and always having something to do is helping me fend off procrastination.
13.05.25 —Working on a presentation rn that needs to be done by 8 this evening and it reminds me of what I don’t like about university. First, I have to do it alone, despite the fact that the prof said it would be groups of two to three. Just no one else was interested in the topic I volunteered for so now I'm the only one working alone while everyone else in the seminar will work with two partners. Prof could have done something about this but I guess they didn’t care. I also have to present it all alone later, which is never something I look forward to, but it becomes a whole lot worse when I have to do it all alone. Nice.
I have to read six whole papers in the span of a weekend when everyone else has to read just two. And I have to figure out an outline for the presentation completely by myself and then judge which aspects to allocate what amount of time to. Something I could use critical feedback on. And half assing it feels so bad when I'm the only one who worked on the presentation. Life could really be better at the moment.
6/100 days of productivity!
Date: 4/12/25
Tough day today, reminding myself it's ok to be a person with feelings lol.
☀ Morning ▸ went to farmers' market ▸cleaned apartment
🌿 Afternoon ▸ got conference paper down to about 15 mins (still have to time it to make sure) ▸ made slides for conference paper ▸ unclogged bathtub drain without having to call maintenance!!
🌙 Evening ▸ felt sad, overthought and moped about for some time ▸wrote letter to pen pal ▸chat with J tonight
4-11-2025
Hello Fellow Students,
As the second semester approaches, I'm gearing up for another round of classes starting on the 16th. While I'm excited to dive back into my studies, I'm also taking this time to recharge my batteries, especially since I'm battling a bit of a sore throat. Don't worry though, I'm keeping my spirits high and staying motivated by taking care of my health and indulging in some good reads, like Julie Clark's gripping novel, "The Lies I Tell."
Remember, self-care and motivation are key components of a successful college experience. So, take some time for yourself, stay focused on your goals, and let's make this semester a great one! 💪 📚📖✨
On today's todo list:
Draft and schedule emails
Review existing literature on my PI's current research direction
Review previous NSF GRFP applications
Look into other national fellowships (listed)
Brainstorm about personal statements + project proposals
I've unfortunately fallen off my daily journaling/work routines the last few months, and I'm working on getting myself back into good habits. Today, my main goal is to schedule all my emails to other PhD programs their declining offers of admission. I just finalized everything with my chosen program this week, and the April 15th decision deadline is looming. I feel terrible for dragging my feet on communications, but I want to make sure I send personalized emails to each professor I interviewed with. I know this is part of the process, but I still hate disappointing people.
On the upside, I've already set up my graduate school accounts, put together a preliminary schedule of my classes in the fall, and set up my new email. I'm eager to get back to work
I'm back
I’ve been so busy in these days that I hadn't even got time for myself.
I've tried Histology again and again, but nothing seems to work. Honestly I'm tired and frustrated, because I have studied A LOT. I guess its a matter of luck 🥲🍀
Here there are few photos from the past days, lessons and study sessions were intense (there’s my cat trying to give me some moral support).
Good study to everyone! 💕✨💕
I want so many trinkets and clips and bits on my traveler’s journal that it takes me 5 minutes to even get into it for me to actually write in it.
4.12.2025
We are slumped :)) a little Saturday morning discrete math session
🎵: missionary feelings
Daily Productivity Challenge: 4/10
04.08.2025~ Getting started on my complexity theory homework that was due yesterday :D, also working on my computer graphics GPU programming project on the side. Working towards finishing the wrapper assignment for my Bayesian Net project as well :)
05.04.2025—still slumping, but, in my defence, it’s the weekend 🤍📖📚⭐️🌸
24/04/10
Save me cafe work, save me, you're my only hope.
19.9.22
