Week 14: December 13th

Christmas Break. Final Projects. Christmas Markets.

I've finally wrapped up final projects (yay!) just time to get studying for final exams, which are January 5th- January 17th. I spent most of the weekend studying and finishing up final papers and presentations. Sunday, Emma and I took a break and headed out to Strandhill with our friend Jordan to go to the Christmas Market, which was fantastic. I got some locally made Christmas gifts for friends in Canada. We also took a walk along the water which was beautiful, but cold. I hate collecting tacky souvenirs. so I collect jars of rocks when I travel instead. So in addition to my cool gift from the market, I got some really neat rocks and sea shells from the beach. I also got marks back from my final paper in Economics on Sunday, which Emma and I did very well on so it was a great day!

Monday, I got back into work mode. I was at school until 3:30pm and then headed into town to send out Christmas cards, and get some snacks. I was asked to help the international officer at IT Sligo with a webinar for Canadian college students. I spoke about my program and my experience in choosing and arriving at IT Sligo. The whole thing was recorded and you can view it here, if you're interested. I shared my information with my former college professors as well, and am happy to help students with this process because I totally understand how scary this entire process can be.

Tuesday was the day of my final presentations, so happy to get them over with. Having said that, Monday night was an absolute nightmare. We had to do a social media campaign for a client, and at 10pm the night before our presentation, the client called to say she did not want to use any of our content. So I had a big of a meltdown, and then collected my thoughts and thought about what I can do to save this project. Thankfully, I've learned the "get everything in writing" lesson. I have a contract signed by the client saying she understood our deadlines, and emails dating back to October showing much work we actually put into this. As well as all of the versions of videos and graphics we used. Frustrating, but it happens, and I was really stressed that it would adversely affect our mark. Thankfully, our lecturer was very understanding. She was glad that we had gone out of way to cater to the needs of a real life client, rather than doing a fake company. She said that too often students focus on marks first and don't take risks, and that she was glad that we did.

There was another Christmas Market at the school on Tuesday so that was nice for the break between presentations. We got fudge and pictures with Santa, and I picked up another neat gift for mom for Christmas. Despite attending two Christmas Markets this week, this is the least Christmasy I have ever felt. I'm usually very prepared for Christmas by now, gift wrapping completed, and decorations up. I'm so overwhelmed by the work load, and I've barely started Christmas shopping (save for my purchases this week). I'm hoping that once classes are over at the end of the week, I'll get more in the Christmas spirit.

We've had exam review today, which has made me feel crazy overwhelmed about how much content I have to study over the break. I have no classes tomorrow which will give me a good chance to get started on revision for week. I'm really looking forward to finishing exams and being able to travel a little bit again!