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December 1, 2017 • Life

November, For Me

Lake Como
Lake Como, Italy

Main highlights

University & Work

  • 📚 Started two new modules for the second half of this semester – Modelling Human Diseases and Bioinformatics where I’m learning how to code in R!
  • ✏️ I wrote a blog post on why enterprise is important for me for the University of Sheffield Enterprise.

Travel

  • ✈️ Trip to Milan – A rocky time during the month, but I learnt a lot for future trips!

Development

  • 🏆 Nominated for “Person with Purpose” for the Northern Power Women Awards 💫
  • 📹 Exciting media-related project 🤩
  • 👩🏻‍🏫 #ShefCodeFirst continues – I led a session on Bootstrap this month!
  • 👩🏻‍💻 I applied for a freelance Web Development job at University and managed to get it!

  • 👯‍♀️ I went to Code First: Girl’s annual conference (#CFGConf17), met the most incredible people, left inspired to continue learning and working towards a career in the tech field.
  • 🎤 I gave my second ever solo-talk at ScHARR Sheffield’s “Communication for Impact” seminar on building an online voice. Blog post all about it coming soon~ In the meantime, you can read and watch my first solo talk at SHRUG here.
  • 🔬 I also completed another presentation as part of my degree. I felt a little more scared talking about science because I don’t feel like I will ever know “as much as the experts” but I did it!
  • 😔 I missed out on an event in London that I wanted to go to but wasn’t in the right frame of mind to go (exhausted from trying to catch up with uni work I was behind that week) I was beating myself over it for a while, until I was reminded by a friend that it’s okay not to attend every possible event there is. It’s okay to say no and miss out, priorities are priorities.

Personal

  • 💪🏼 Grace Fit Guide Round 2 is going well and strong! I’m lifting tiny bits heavier and still really enjoying myself. I can’t believe I’ve been exercising continuously for the past year! GO ME.
  • 💝 On the 29th of November 2016, I met Matt for the first time. We decided to meet at the same place this year, at the same time. 🤗
  • 🐣 I hit 2k followers on Twitter! 🎉

3️⃣ things I’m happy about

1) Working on my career

I’ve been working as a Developer for a month now. I still feel strange having the title on my CV and LinkedIn profile, I know I talk about not needing a degree in CompSci for a career in tech a lot but imposter syndrome still punches me in the face from time to time.

Twitter UK
#LoveWhereYouWork @ Twitter UK

I’m still not sure what I really want to do after I graduate but I know one thing for sure: I want to work in tech and I want to always make time to give back in some way. Currently, Code First: Girls has allowed me to do this and I’m so thankful. I’ve never felt so part of a community before and giving back by passing on what I know to empower those who want to do the same brings me so much fulfilment and joy!

Those are the two main things I am aiming towards and I’m happy with the work I’m putting in now that I hope will help move me in the right direction. 🌟

2) Health and well-being

I tweeted with a photo on my current body ‘update’, this month:

Every single time I compare my old photos to now, a sense of achievement washes over me. I am thanking myself (and the push from my family and friends) every single day for starting. Challenging myself with these positive habits and focus on self-love last year has CHANGED my life. My body looks good, I’m super happy with it at the moment, but the effects on my mind is the most important.

Anxiety still tries to destroy me when it can, but my mind is SO MUCH stronger. I don’t resist, I feel and let it go. Something I learnt from my daily meditation practice – thank you Calm. 🙏🏻

3) Spreading positive vibes

It puts the biggest smile on my face when people tell me that they have started meditating (especially when I see Calm on their social media feeds, I’m like YAS. YAS. YAS 😂), blogging, exercising or going outside their comfort zone because they saw me share it on social media. It’s a reminder of why I do what I do 🤗

November in photos

November photos
Twitter for CFGConf17, flying to Milan, Lake Como, Flowers, CFG, my room == happy place, Lakshika and I, #pawgains

Monthly favourites

Tech
I bought an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil after complaining for months about paper and losing paper 😅 I like writing during lectures as opposed to typing so when I found out that the iPad Pro and Pencil and a “paperless student” movement, I decided to invest! I am now an official Apple fangirl.

Apple
Apple gang!

Apps & related

Podcasts
I’ve started listening to podcasts again on my morning walk to university. These are my favourites:

 

 

Music:

Next month

Goals

  • Organise revision timetable with dun, dun, dun, January exam season coming up!
  • Write up posts I’ve been meaning to write and publish for a while
  • Keep up with my positive habits. ✨

Events

  • Dissertation deadline – I cannot wait to submit and let all the stress for that project melt away
  • I’ll be volunteering with Matt at GitHub Field Day – an unconference conference day in Nottingham 🤗
  • Completion of Code First: Girls AW 2017 courses!
  • CHRISTMAS!!!

Quote of the month

 

 

A post shared by Heidy Espaillat (@heidy.espaillat) on

PN in Greek

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