Ya girl has fast realised that her start-of-final-half-semester Big Week is, in fact, a Big Month. A Big Two Months. It’s big until the end – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My vlog this week may be primarily of interest to prospective Law students, and it’s my longest vid ever, so maybe get snuggly before giving it a squiz. That being said, I talk at length (or rather, as much length as can be considered short of overzealous) about the first year moot, which is an optional activity that took up residence in my life two weeks ago and latched firmly on. This fortnight’s been full of case prep and privacy torts. Not complaining, though, as I’ve learned bucketloads and made a brilliant friend.

Suited, booted, and mooted – in the bathroom of the High Court, no less.

On top of the rigorous demands of the Justice Sir Robert Chambers Memorial Moot (which, funnily enough, I first heard about while reading an entry of Tiana’s on this blog last year!), I’ve got assignments out the ears. Six deadlines, not counting those to be submitted in tutorials, in under three weeks. One of them I got out of the way on the first day back, the next on Tuesday this week, and the third is tomorrow. With all the work I’ve been doing recently, I feel like I’m on a really productive roll. (And I know I’ve talked about productivity this whole year – you’re probably sick of it by now – but this half-semester has been on another level. Everything’s been on an uphill climb but now I’ve got to the top and I can actually see everything I hope to accomplish stretched out over the horizon. (And I’ve also been able to see the entire floor of my bedroom for the past fortnight, which I’m ashamed to say is huge for me.))

I think the moot got me back on my feet because I was forced to organise a lot of my life around it and its deadlines, as well as managing my own. I’ve shut myself out of social engagements (and especially unnecessary spending #dubbers2018 #andeddershopefully), and have sat myself down and gone, “look, this is what you need to do in order to get this done.” I’m really proud of how much I’m walking the walk. I’ve always been good at theorising, but my personal space is what takes the hit when I’ve got a lot going on, and now that that’s always in order, life feels completely cohesive.

Shots from Shaky Isles – the one down near Britomart, not the one on campus. (Still aesthetically pleasing though!)

I’ve also been going to the gym more. As one of my biggest role models – Elle Woods – once said, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. (Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands. They just don’t.)” Elle, as per usual, is right. (I haven’t shot my husband.)

It feels really good to be going full speed ahead. It also feels really good to know that everything I have to turn in from this point on is something I’m very passionate about writing – the proposal for an essay defending my best gal Jane Austen and my fave book Pride and Prejudice against critique from Charlotte Brontë that I genuinely do feel was a severe misunderstanding, an essay on stage directions and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire, in-depth stage directions (I sense a theme) for a production of Euripides’ Hecabe, and the actual result of the aforementioned essay proposal, 1,500 words on Pride and Prejudice. I’ve also got a tutorial assignment for Law to hand in next week, and the Blues Awards (!!!!) tomorrow night, and a showing of an Auckland Theatre Company production that I wrote material for in a couple of weeks’ time.

I had lunch with my grandma last week – can we say “beetroot risotto”?! (I’m aware this is a contentious issue. I side with the case for deliciousness.)

Life never stops! And that’s great! To steal a sentence or two that I jotted down a week ago: “I’m so glad to be where I am right now – in the world and in my brain. It’s not always smooth sailing but riding the wave brings me just as much joy as floating along on the ocean.”

I’m very much looking forward to what’s ahead. The first fortnight of these last two months has already been fantastic.