Aliferous

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Starting university is a big transition and a rollercoaster of emotions. First, you are extremely excited and happy to meet new people and live in a new environment. Then, you feel like dying and wishing to go back home as soon as possible so that you don’t have to worry or even think about dreadful words like essays, presentations, written and oral exams.

My second year of uni is about to come to an end and so I wanted to give you some tips on how to manage the incredible life of a university student based on my own personal experience.

1 – Balance your social life and university life: When you start university, you want to make the most of it and this means to make as many friends as you can. It literally becomes one of your priorities because you don't want to be completely alone in this new chapter of your life. Once you meet a few people, you'll receive invitations to go to parties, to nightclubs or to just simply hang out. Obviously, you will say ‘yes' as it is a good way to get to know these people better and to make memories. However, you need to know that you aren't going to university only to go out every day. You are paying tuition fees and therefore you have to make sure you're doing your best to get good grades. With this said, I suggest you start your assignments as soon as possible to make your life easier. This way you will not leave everything until the last minute and you'll have free time to meet your friends. Also, I highly recommend you buy a planner in order to organise your life and manage your time. I can't stress enough how much a personal planner has helped me to keep track of deadlines. I'm the type of person that has to write everything otherwise I tend to forget things quite easily.

2 – Keep in contact with your friends back at home and your family: Just because you're going to university and you're about to meet new people, it doesn’t mean that you need to cut ties with your old friends and family. Make you sure you call or text them. Ask them how they are doing and share what has happened since you came to university. What I really want to say with this is, don’t take them for granted. Don’t just remember about them when you're feeling lonely or when things aren’t going the way you expected.

I have always talked with my best friends since I came to University and let me tell you that without them I don’t know how I would have survived this new chapter of my life. My family and my best friends have always supported me so much. Even though I have friends from my course with whom I get along with, my family and my best friends are the ones who truly know the real me and I feel so comfortable and relieved when I share my struggles with them. So, please don’t forget about the people that cherish you.

3 – Be yourself: Don’t change who you are just for others’ sake. You don’t need to be someone you’re not to make friends and to be accepted by society. If you don’t like alcohol, don’t drink. If you don’t like nightclubs or parties because it makes you stressed and uncomfortable, don’t go. It is true that you might hear people telling “you are so boring” or “you’re missing out all the fun” but if alcohol and parties or nightclubs are not your thing, you shouldn’t feel pressured to do something you don’t want to. I would rather be myself and be happy than pretend to be something I’m not and live in constant sadness. This is my advice to you: If they really like you and they want to be your friend, they will accept you as you are.

4 – Don’t compare yourself to others: I’m trying to do my best on this one. Sometimes I'm insecure and I tend to underrate everything I do because in my head what others do will always be better. However, I’m trying to change this and I’m trying to see things from another perspective. No one is perfect, and no one knows everything. If we knew everything, we wouldn’t go to uni. Therefore, what’s the point in comparing myself to others? They will also make mistakes just like I do and that’s completely fine. It’s part of life. We only grow up by learning from our mistakes. What I want you to realise is that you are just as intelligent as everybody else and you will for sure graduate and find a good job if you do your best.

5 – It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and stressed: everyone and I seriously mean EVERYONE gets stressed and overwhelmed because of uni. You’ll feel like you don’t have enough time to prepare for an exam or to finish your assignment, you’ll ponder giving up, you’ll think about calling your mum and cry. If you feel extremely anxious, try to go to the beach (if you have a beach near you live) or surround yourself with nature, read a book, listen to music or watch something that you enjoy. Do something that makes you happy and relaxed. When you’re stressed you won’t be able to do anything worth it for uni. First, try to calm down and then you’ll be ready to finish whatever you have to do.

6 – Join societies and clubs or do volunteering work: Societies and clubs are a good way to meet people and make new friends from other courses. There are many different clubs, so you’ll have plenty of choices and I believe you’ll find one that truly sparks an interest in you. If you're not interested in societies/clubs, do some volunteering work if you enjoy contributing back. At the moment, I'm volunteering in a hospital and so far I'm enjoying it!

7 – Don’t be scared to start a conversation: I’m an introvert and I know how hard and terrifying it is just to think about initiating a conversation with someone. In the first year of university, everyone wants to make friends so don’t be scared to say “Hi!”. I assure you that they will be friendly and approachable. Also, try talking with some people from your course on social media before uni starts. That’s what I did, and it made things easier.

8 – Don’t be scared to transfer course/university or take a gap year: If you’re not enjoying the course or the university or if you feel like you don’t know what you want to do in life don’t be scared of taking a gap year or transferring university/course. It is completely fine to not like what you are studying. Taking a gap year might help you realise what is it that you really like to do. It’s always better to transfer when we are young than regretting when we’re already working. I have written a personal article about changing to another course, if you are interested please click here.

I hope this helps you a lot and I wish all the best to all the future uni students! You’ll be fine!

I hope you have a lovely day!

Jesika x

“Isn't it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be.”
- Maud Hart Lovelace, in Betsy in Spite of Herself

Lately, I have been thinking a lot in starting to write a new personal journal. Honestly, at this point, the only thing that is preventing me is the fact that I don't have a notebook for this cause, and like Jesika said "Of course. You are not going to write in toilet paper", ahah.

4/04/2019

Dear Diary,

As always I left the article to the last of the hour. I am an idiot.

- That would probably be my first entry if I started to write now.

I think many people have their first journal during childhood. I remember receiving my first when I was little, my sisters got one by the same time, and I am pretty sure that my friends also had one. If I am not mistaken, my first journal was a notebook whose cover had the design of a small butterfly. The journal had a padlock, and I would put it in its case, closing it by making a bow. Later I would have more, I actually even had a Hello Kitty Electronic Password Diary (that one was especially fun). In the beginning, I would write everything on it: my day at school, a crush, an argument, my feelings, etc. In particular, I will never forget this specific occasion, when I was around 10-11 years old, and one of my friends at the time came to my house. We were playing around and she opened a notebook that was, of course, my journal. She didn't know and opened it on a random page. It was so embarrassing. On that period I was addicted to the anime Mermaid Melody, so on that page, I had written: "Ohh I wish I could be Pink Pearl Princess Mermaid" and drawn that character below the text. Faced with the confusion of my friend I simply ignored what had just happened, kept the notebook and mentally facepalmed myself.

4/04/2019

Dear Diary,

I should be continuing to write my article, but I could not resist and had to go see YouTube videos of Mermaid Melody. I cannot stop singing the songs mentally now. What did I do?

- This would be my second entry. I am not proud.

Anyways, the problem for me is that I wasn't able to write regularly. In other words, for a certain period, I would write every day, but suddenly I would lose interest/will and stop for months and then years. The last time that I tried to start a journal was probably five years ago, and that was my worst attempt since I only wrote two pages. Curiously, I wrote it in English, this way my sisters wouldn't understand much if they tried to and I could practise my writing that at that epoch was horrible.

Furthermore, having a journal has a good amount of advantages. Once, my Portuguese teacher in the tenth year at School told my class that keeping a journal was very helpful, since improved our writing skills. I agree, and I can add that it's also very effective in the sense that it's a way to vent. Sure you can talk with your family, friends, significant other, yet some things we don't want to share with anyone, we want to keep it to ourselves. A diary is a good way to project these thoughts because occasionally they can become too much to handle. Another benefit, it's the obvious one: the major part of us has a limited memory capacity, this way, as we grow older, and live new experiences, we gradually lose older memories: moments of childhood, of adolescence... Sadly, it's inevitable. Therefore, keeping a journal over the years is one of the ways to keep those who were our feelings previously, thoughts, good and bad moments. Ultimately, it's a way for us to remember in the future whatever it is we wanted to write one day. For example, as I stated above, when I was little I wanted to be a mermaid. My childhood journal will always remember me that.

A few years back, when I was cleaning my room, I found my old diaries and I have to admit that I laughed at some things that I had written. However, it was indeed interesting to read former feelings and adventures, remember past friends and dreams, and even see that some wishes I had truly accomplished and others were still a goal to reach. Reflecting on the subject, I remember Stefan Salvatore of the series The Vampire Diaries, who wrote his journey in countless journals, and well, he was a vampire so that was a lot of recorded memories and transcribed feelings. I want to do the same, as a result when I grow old I can read about my past experiences or even think to myself "Why was I like that?".

To sum up, although in the past I only would write in my journal for one month or two maximum, and then stop, keeping one only has advantages. My experience may not be the best, nevertheless I am only twenty years old and hopefully, I have a long life ahead of me with a great number of adventures, reflections and emotions to register. It'll be interesting to read them when I am old.

I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Nb: I do not own picture and I am not trying to infringe copyright here.

Mariana Nunes

You probably must have noticed that we haven’t published ‘Our month is GIFs’ in a while. We decided to bring it back this month. Here’s what happened in our lives this month:

Jesika:

1 – I bought tickets for the BTS concert in London. I can’t wait to see them live!

via GIPHY

2 – I started volunteering at my local hospital. So far, I’m enjoying it! It's always good to contribute back!

via GIPHY

3 – I finished reading Dearing Greatly by Brené Brown and it’s such an amazing book! I dare everybody to read it!

via GIPHY

4 – I started packing my belongings this month because I’m moving in to a new home next month. Moving out is really tiring! This is how I feel after packing everything and sorting all the paperwork

via GIPHY

5 – March has been an amazing month for K-pop comebacks and debuts. I’ve got so many songs stuck in my head!

via GIPHY

6 - I'm also happy that the Jonas Brothers are back! My 10-year-old me is crying of happiness

via GIPHY

7 - Mariana and I have been watching The Smile Has Left Your Eyes on Fridays during our video calls. We are excited for the main actors to be together but we know that the end of this k-drama will break our hearts into tiny little pieces.

via GIPHY

Mariana:

1. This month I went to two conferences in my Faculty. The first one was about domestic violence, a huge problem in Portugal. It's sad to watch the news and see that we are at the beginning of the year, and the numbers are already catastrophic - 14 people died victims of domestic violence in only three months. The second conference theme was "International Women's Day: Equal Rights". Once again, the conference touched compelling subjects, and even made me think of matters I had never realized were so pertinent.

via GIPHY

2. Jesika and I are currently watching together, trough video call, the K-Drama The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. I am loving it! The story is excellent, and the actors are perfect for the roles. Honestly, this drama deserved way more recognition.

3. In one weekend I watched the first part of the documentary Leaving Neverland, about Michael Jackson's alleged sexual abuse of children. This is a complicated and sensitive subject. While I was watching the documentary I was thinking "there is no way that these two men are lying, they seem genuine". These are quite serious charges about one man that left a great legacy behind. A person doesn't know what to think: in one minute the newspapers are calling him out for being a predator, and in another one, you see a video in which they tell a story of how in one night the singer distributed money to homeless people in Las Vegas. I guess we will never know the entire truth for sure. Personally, I can't think of him the same way.

4. I watched the series You. I liked it very much. It's quite scary to think that nowadays you can have such easy access to the information of another person. A lesson that the show teaches? Don't share everything on social media, and always be careful on the internet. The World is full of crazy people. Anyways, totally recommend it.

5. I am already excited for Eurovision this year. It's going to be entertaining. I already have a few favourite songs, and I am also very happy with Portugal choice for the contest: Conan Osiris, with is song Telemóveis (Phones), is going to give a phenomenal show.

via GIPHY

We don't own any of these GIFs.

Jesika & Mariana

This week we decided to share our quirky facts so that you can get to know us a little bit more. If there’s something you can relate to then let us know in the comments.

Jesika Gomes:

1 – I know this can offensive for some people so read at your own risk. When I used to eat cereals, I would always pour the milk first. I find it weird to do it the other way around.

2 – Every time I go to university or to the hospital, I always use my right foot first to walk. I know this is just a superstition but I actually believe it gives me good luck hahah

3 – The first thing I do every day after I wake up is to say “Thank you Universe for another day alive. Today is a good day to have a good day!”

4 – I have always had problems to sleep. However, if I put my thumb in between my indicator and middle finger I can sleep better

5 – Whenever I have to drink something, I don’t swallow it straight away. Instead I puff my cheeks as a way to store the drink and then I will slowly swallow it. The main reason I do this is because if swallow it quickly I feel like I will choke and die hahaha

Mariana Nunes:

1. I am very competitive, especially with my sisters, and between them mainly with my sister Raquel. I even downloaded Candy Crush Saga to get ahead in the levels: I'm missing more than 1000 levels to get there, but it's probably going to happen one day (don't judge me, my father shares the same goal as me ahahah) ... I get a great sense of pride when Raquel admits that I am right and she isn't (which according to her "happens extremely rarely").

2. I am not a morning person. I remember that once my French teacher, whose lesson was the first in the morning, said that I'd come into the classroom practically sleeping, but then I would wake up gradually as time went by.

3. When I was a child, my dad told me that in his childhood he learned from someone that leave a book open overnight was bad: so one of those many superstitions. I don't usually care about superstitions, yet, since then, I rarely leave a book open, when I am not reading it.

4. I have this necessity when I am organising my secretary, or something else, to leave everything perfectly lined up.

5. I have a pretty agitated sleep for certain periods, and I also dream a lot, which honestly I don't like because the next day I don't feel like I fully rested. The funny thing is, in this scope I sometimes remember one time when I was little when my family had to go to France. We stayed in my grandparents' house and there wasn't a lot of space so I had to sleep with my parents. My father later said that I gave them so many kicks while I slept that he went to sleep on the uncomfortable couch in the living room. We all still laugh to that story.

We hope you have a marvellous weekend!

Jesika & Mariana

Hello! Did you miss our blog posts? You probably didn't even notice our absence. Nevertheless, there is no need to wait anymore, we are back at it again, stronger than ever! Well, we will try...

After not writing for Aliferous for several months, we finally feel prepared to return, and what a better way to do it than with an article written by the two of us? Jesika suggested doing a post dedicated to some quotes that inspire us and I loved the idea. In the past, we wrote some posts that allowed you, readers, to know us better, our personalities and the way that we see life, this one has the same intention.

Further, in this post, we share quotes that we live by and we hope that they motivate you as well.

What is a meaningful life? A meaningful life is different for everyone because everyone has different desires. What is it that you want to do in order to give meaning to your life? Do you want to travel? Help charities? Learn languages? It’s up to you to choose what you to do in your life. Of course, you cannot have complete control of what will happen in your life. Sometimes unexpected circumstances can arise but you still have the power to imagine how you want your life to look like and take action to turn your imagination into reality.

Growing up it’s about overcoming challenges in life and learning lessons from those challenges. Instead of complaining because bad things keep happening to you, learn to see those “bad things” as an opportunity to grow and become more mature. It’s about not making the same mistakes you did in the past because you have learnt an important lesson from those "mistakes".

I think this quote is extremely important for our society since so many people are obsessed with social media. I know people who constantly check on their social media to see how many likes a picture has. It’s crazy how some people give so much value to an insignificant number. What is the point of having 1 like or 100 likes if you cannot love yourself? You can even have the most liked picture on Instagram or Facebook but it means nothing when you cannot look at yourself in the mirror and be happy with who you are and what you see. Only when you love yourself you can give love to others.

We all have compared ourselves with other people at least once in our lives. It can be really hard not to compare to others especially when everyone seems to be doing better than you. However, every individual is unique with different talents, desires and opportunities in life. There is no point comparing to others because each of us was meant and created to be different and everyone is supposed to blossom and thrive differently.

Everyone is worthy regardless of how many times they have succeeded or failed in life. The truth is that everyone has ups and downs. That’s just the normal cycle of life. Despite the number of times you succeed or fail what really matters is your dedication and persistence. Don’t forget that the most successful people in this world are the ones who have failed many times but haven’t given up!

Avatar: The Last Airbender may be a "Show for children" but it's very complex, and even an adult can learn a lot from it. There are a few inspiring and mature quotes that the TV Show provides to the viewer, but this is my favourite. There are so many moments when we lose hope, that everything goes wrong, and it seems we will not have a sight of light any time soon. No one likes these moments, but we have to accept that our life won't always be unicorns and rainbows, unfortunately. I read in a book that the hardest experiences in our life are the ones that we will remember the most once we are old because when we overtake them, we will feel an immense sense of pride and accomplishment. Life won't always be easy, however, we can't give up, we have to keep fighting, and eventually, we will come to a better place.

In life, there are so many situations that we face in which we don't agree with someone else. Seldom, if something it's not of my taste I am pretty sure that my expression tells it all. However, on some occasions, the better choice is simply to smile and agree. Just let it go and later do as you please.

One of my greatest fears is to die young, without doing everything that I dream of. Nowadays, if we sit in the kitchen watching the news we hear about so many tragedies everywhere in the World. So many people that don't get the chance to accomplish their aspirations, I mean there are so many people that don't even have the minimum quality of life. Truly, I am very aware that, even with all the difficulties, I am very lucky. But I am getting off topic... One day, if I get there, I don't want to be that old grumpy woman upset by the choices I did not make and the opportunities I lost. I don't want to feel that I could have done more. We can't take anything for granted, and sometimes we should take risks. Namely, we have to live every day as if it is the last one. (Says the girl in pyjamas and robe who hasn't done almost anything productive all day ahah. Well, you get what I intend to say, yet that doesn't mean that we can't have our lazy days occasionally)

There's absolutely nothing wrong in being confident. In fact, in my opinion, you should show confidence in your daily life - in your classes, workplace, relationships, etc - even if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing. The problem is when you're not willing to listen to others, or when you assume that you are the only one right and everyone else is wrong. We don't know everything, and probably never will.

Have you ever, been minding your own business, not bothering anyone, and someone just looks at you and exclaims "Oh My God, why are you so silent? Just talk, we are between friends right?". Let me tell you, I have lost the count of times that this happened to me. I am an introvert, so it's very difficult for me to be an open person. Therefore, I am polite, but in the majority of the situations, I prefer to stay quiet. In addition, what's wrong in being silent? When someone tells me that I should talk more, interact more or go out more with friends, I tend to feel bad, I think "Maybe I should socialise more", and start to blame myself for not being able to do it since at the end of the day I am still the same person. It's ridiculous, why should I feel bad because I stayed at home comfortably doing something that I enjoyed, and not going out with friends, just because someone told me so? If someone tells me to jump out of a bridge, will I? No, and I will not feel bad about that. Maybe it's a radical comparison, but it hopefully delivers what I intend to express. Don't feel bad because you are "the silent person of the group" or because someone told you that you are not cool because you decided to not go out and enjoy your time at home. You are the one who makes the choices in your life. Beside this, being an introverted doesn't make you a less interesting person, at all.

We don't own any of these images.

Jesika & Mariana

1. Where do I start? It was my birthday at the beginning of the month. It's been years since I stopped giving this day a lot of relevance, you know like I used to as a kid. This year was not that different, however, my parents surprised me with an aeroplane ticket to Madeira to enjoy the weekend with my family. I was very touched. I spent a lovely time with my family, and well, you will only celebrate your twentieth anniversary one time in your life.

2. Lately, I am seriously feeling the difficulty level of my third year of college. So many things to study, know, and do, and so little time. It's very stressing.

3. Temperatures have dropped dramatically in Portugal this past week. It was so sudden that I am still adjusting to the change. I am not a very cold-natured person, but right now, I am writing this post with my most cosy pyjamas and with a blanket around me. I already miss the summer and the beach.

4. I finished reading the book The Night Stalker, by Robert Bryndza. I think that I stated in one of these monthly posts that I read The Girl in the Ice from the same author and loved it. This way, when my parents asked what I wanted for my birthday I asked for the second book of this series: The Night Stalker. I adored the book as well! Seriously, Robert Bryndza way of writing is so addictive and captivating.

5. I also finished watching the series La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). An addictive and so well thought show. I was amazed and absolutely loved the plot and characters... except Arturito.

6. This month I have been watching the TV Show Pesadelo na Cozinha, the Portuguese version of Kitchen Nightmares, with the Chef Gordon Ramsay. The Portuguese version is with the Chef Ljubomir Stanisic. He has a strong personality. I like to watch the Show, usually, it is broadcasted on television on Sunday evenings, and it's very entertaining.

7. Last but not least, yesterday, the day I habitually post my articles, I didn't have my article finished so I didn't post anything. Like I said, time is very limited lately. Actually, I had already started my review of the movie Hocus Pocus, and I truly wanted to publish it this week, in celebration of Halloween, so I decided to publish it today. Check out if you are interested!

Have a BOOtiful Halloween and a rest of a lovely week!

We don't own any of these GIFs.

Mariana Nunes

My advice for the first year of university

Our Month in GIFs - April 2019

My experience with personal journals!

Our month in GIFs - March 2019

10 Quirky Facts and Habits About Us

10 Quotes We Live By

Our month in GIFs - October 2018

Our month in GIFs - September 2018

My Instagram