• Life

October, For Me

It’s 6AM on a Saturday when I’m writing this. I’m my most productive in the mornings.

A shot of Leeds in Autumn

I’ve decided to rule out workouts the final full week of October because I was unwell (again); still really unsure why because I am quite a healthy person who “never gets sick” – I’ve come up with loads of different reasons but the main one being burnout probably, so I took a week to chill out a little bit. 

It’s always very therapeutic writing this. It’s my favorite post to write, as you may know by now I am a very reflective person and this is always a good time to slow down, look back and appreciate the things life has brought me this Autumn month!

Main Highlights

Projects

  • 👊🏼I started off the month on a high note, #Diversity30, a project that I’ve been involved in thanks to Anne-Marie and James was launched earlier this month. It was such an honour to be part of it and highlight why diversity matters to me and the importance of it.
  • 🎙 I featured as a guest on a Breakfast Show about on BBC Radio Leeds! 
  • 🎬The careers project that I did with BBC Bitesize back in August finally launched this month too. Whenever I get the chance to talk to young people about career planning and opportunities, I jump on the chance! I always think about my younger, confused self (and see the same confusion in my younger brother at times) and so being a part of this with the aim to help ease that anxiety and confusion for those kids worried about the future was such a huge honour. 

Personal

Claudine and I in Newcastle
  • 👭I went to Newcastle to meet fellow blogger Claudine in person. It wasn’t too far from Leeds and I enjoyed taking the train the other direction than I’m used to (going to Sheffield) I loved meeting Claudine, we had lots of fun speaking in Tagalog; well speaking in broken Tagalog on my side. 😂 Vlog from her coming soon!
  • 🤣Matt and I finally filmed our makeup tag video. You have to see how he well he did… 😂
  • 🐾Matt and I did some exploring around Leeds, visiting the Leeds Dock and Royal Armories Museum. We also watched Light Night Leeds show earlier in the month.

Community

  • 🎓I returned to the University of Sheffield as an employer/alumni for the STEM Careers Fair that they were holding. It was so strange returning to University, not as a student, the environment felt a lot different! I created a vlog of the day as part of an employee advocacy programme at work – you can check it out here.
  • 💻I attended HackSheffield 4.0 as a sponsor with BT. It was great to go full circle from attending when I was a student to sponsoring! Paying it forward.
  • 💜Kicked off the Code First: Girls General Course in Leeds! I received positive feedback after leading the session (which I was honestly quite nervous about) I’m so excited to be teaching again! 

Work

  • 💡Successfully completed another month of my DevOps Graduate Scheme. I’m still learning lots but taking it all one step at a time. Really enjoying it! 😊

Health

Online

  • 💙For this month’s Inspiring Figures, I spoke to my good friend David da Silva. We talked about hackathons, programming, his incredible projects art+code and more! Check out his feature here.

3 Things I’m Happy About

1️⃣ Paying it Forward

Something I quickly found out that I love doing is helping others. 

Back in Sheffield and my student years, I had the opportunity to give back to the student community especially STEM with Code First: Girls, hackathons and more! Now that I’m working, I’ve been more opportunity to give back again to these communities but at a different level. This month, I led the Code First: Girls General Course in Leeds, sponsored a hackathon that means a lot to me and returned to University to pass on bits of wisdom to students on life after university. 

It’s been fantastic to give back in any way that I can. After each event, I’m exhausted but I feel so *great* knowing that someone out there has been impacted in a positive way. That feeling rules. 

2️⃣ Exciting Projects

Again, I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work on some really exciting projects e.g. being a guest on BBC Leeds Radio, BBC Bitesize Careers, #Diversity30. All of these projects have all been ones that genuinely make my heart happy, like above, I tried to give back in some way in all of them. There’s honestly no better feeling!

3️⃣ Work

My first two months at work so far has been mostly all about learning about the company, what is expected of me in my graduate scheme, the team and my first rotation. It has been a little overwhelming but everyone that I work with has been very supportive!

This month I’ve started getting directly involved in projects which has made me feel like I’m providing value to the business. To me, it’s been hard to start a new job, in a world that you’re not used to or have much knowledge on and have high expectations of yourself. I’ve learned that it’s OK not to know everything yet 😊

October in Pictures

Diversity30, Meeting Claudine, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, BT x HackSheffield, BBC Radio Leeds, STEM Fair, Leeds and Code First: Girls

#PAWSITIVITY

When this happens, it still feels so surreal. Don’t think I’ll ever get used to it!

Monthly Favourites

❄️ Clothing

  • I wanted to update my winter jacket to something that was of higher quality than what I’ve purchased in the past (I’ve also been inspired by Matt who has been preaching quality > quantity in terms of clothing for a while now, it finally hit me I guess!) so I’ve invested in the WOMEN’S GOTHAM JACKET II from North Face. It is SO warm – perfect for the winter!

💻 Tech

I’ve been creating lots of videos this month and have been enjoying using both the Canon G7X and my new iPhone XS Max cameras. I’m no filmmaker but these have helped me re-create my vision and I love it!

🎬 Film

  • Night at Museum 1, 2 & 3
  • A Star is Born
  • The Theory Of Everything

📚 Books

  • Rules of Work by Richard Templar
  • Rules of Life by Richard Templar

You can find both of these books on my Amazon Monthly Favourites List along with other of my favourite self-development books!

🎶 Music

Quote of the month

Next month

My main focus points this coming month:

▫️Reduce sugar intake (I’ve slipped from my usual controlled self and had so much sugar this month, at least once everyday oops. My goal is to make sure I stop giving myself food comas and headaches with all the excess sugar)
▫️Give it my all during my gym sessions but remember that it’s OK to take a break
▫️Take it easy with work and “extra-curricular” work – I’m not expected to do everything, to know everything (in my job) and it’s okay to have days where I literally do nothing.

Let’s tick these off by the end of the month, shall we? ☑️Have a great November all!

PN in Greek

↪ Want to read more posts like this? Head over to the Vault.

↪ Do you have any questions or comments? Drop me a line on Bluesky, or send me an email.


↑ Back to the top