• Life

November, For Me

Although this month started off quite challenging in my personal life, I’ve tried my best to keep my head up; looking on the bright side is powerful – I will always try to choose this. 💖

Main Highlights

Speaking

  • 📣 This month has been packed with speaking opportunities every single week. I’ve had various opportunities to speak at:
    • Diversity & Inclusion event at the University of Sheffield
    • Code First: Girls (Sheffield)
    • Sheffield Women in Computer Science event
    • Northern Power Futures Conference (Manchester) about building an online presence
    • Growing from your STEM Government event (London)
  • 🍾 I also officially hit my 1 year of public speaking this month!
  • 💜 All these events gave me the chance to expand my network and meet some incredible people which I am so thankful for.
  • 🌟 Amali, CEO of Code First: Girls read out my blog post as her acceptance speech for Computer Weekly. 😱

Travel

  • 🚂 I did a lot of traveling in the UK this month. I went to London twice, Sheffield, Manchester and of course, all the way back to Leeds! It’s been nice to get comfortable traveling solo or for work.

Personal

  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Not so much a highlight, but my dad fell ill earlier in the month which took a huge toll on me. Most of the month has been a lot of me putting on a brave face, but everyone has been really supportive and I’m taking it day by day!
  • 🎄 It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
  • 👩🏻‍🎓 My sister graduated from University this month, making 4 Narvas Sheffield graduates! I’m so proud 🙌🏼
  • 💆🏻‍♀️ I took a few days annual leave to chill out at home and spent a day to myself where I got my roots straightened by Jing and got eyelash extensions.
  • 🎸 Matt and I finally went and watched HONNE play live in Manchester, when I say it was awesome, I want to stress it was awesome.
  • 🎫 Matt and I explored Leeds a bit more this month and visited all the central museums – it was a lot of fun!

Online

#PawGainz

  • 🏋🏻‍♀️ I’ve been working my way through Steph’s Women’s programme, I’m now on the second half of the programme where I’ve been incorporating heavier lifts. I’ve made it a goal every week to up my weights a little bit! I’m seeing some muscle growth on my lower body (which I also think has something to do with upping my calories recently!)
  • ☁️ I’ve been incorporating meditation and mindfulness into my daily routine again with Calm which has been really refreshing 🤗It’s been nice to get back into it!
  • 🌯 I’ve been tracking my food intake recently too with LifeSum which has been mind opening re: nutrients. 

Work

  • 🌟 I’ve officially been at my new graduate role for 3 months! It’s been such a whirlwind trying to get comfortable and understand the systems, industry, and business but I’m feeling like I’m making some progress.
  • 📈 I delivered a presentation about the next 3 months of my graduate scheme and my goals to two managers (I was terrified but by the end of it, I was so glad that I had the opportunity to!)
  • 📹 I’ve taken part in a few extra projects around videos/vlogging, it’s been so much fun and I’m getting more and more confident chatting to a camera. 
  • 💖 Code First: Girls in Leeds has been great to be a part of, as always. I even made a cameo in a video created by DWP this month when I was teaching the magic of GitHub!

3 things I’m happy about

1️⃣Papa

It’s been a tough month for my family, but I’m really grateful that my dad is on his way to recovery and that we are all now aware of what is wrong so that we can take the necessary steps going forward.

This whole experience has made me so aware of how important family are, our health and time. Let’s make the most out of all them 💙

2️⃣Speaking & Support

I’ve been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to share my stories and my knowledge to others this month. Every single time I do a talk or workshop, I always feel so good (the post-workout endorphin feels!) that I a) did it but also, b) passed what I know to another person who truly got value out of it.

Thank you to everyone that gave me the chance to shine and have my voice heard, I’m so grateful! 🙏🏻

3️⃣HONNE

I have spammed Instagram with HONNE related posts and stories, but I have to say it again. 

HONNE are incredible.

But even more so in real life. Matt and I had a great time listening to them live in Manchester last weekend, there were so many moments I had tears in my eyes and a huge grin on my face. Thank you for the best birthday present, Matt 🧡

November in Photos

November in Pictures: Graduation, Further, Work outs, HONNE, Christmas markets, CFG

#Pawsitivity

PSA: This is a big deal. 😆

November Favourites

  • 🍏 LifeSum – a food tracking app that helps break down nutrient information in such a satisfying UI (can’t get better than that!)
  • 🎬 Fantastic Beasts 2 – Hi, I’m Pauline and I am officially obsessed with the Wizard World. 
  • 📱 Screen Time – I’ve really enjoyed tracking my screen time on my iPhone, it’s made me make more mindful decisions on what I do with my time. I’ve set myself 3 hours a day on social media which has helped me massively manage my time! Here’s to living a more mindful life 🙌🏼 
  • 🎧 Music: HONNE (of course) and Little Mix’s “LM5” – I can’t get enough!

Quote of the Month

Next month: December

I’m looking forward to the next month full of Christmas celebrations, spending time with my family and relaxing 😊

I don’t have much planned in December apart from work and fully relaxing – a great way to end the busiest, most productive year of my life, I have to say. 😆

Have a fantastic month ahead all!

PN in Greek

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