Thoughts of a Foundation Student - Summer Scholarship

If I were to describe my summer it would be scholarship and psychosis. So, you can imagine it has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

Since I last posted I decided to take a short break from study as I needed to focus on my day job and try to get some rest. I also had my annual review at work so I was thinking about my professional development. It was recommended that I look at the Enterprise Hub because there was some helpful guidance on setting goals and locating my practice.

The section about locating my practice gave me a lot to think about, particularly on where I fit in academia (or if I fit in academia). I know arts education is very important to me, and I’d like to work in an area that bridges creativity and belonging/wellbeing. I also love the work I do in elearning and the work I used to do supporting libraries and study skills.

Five years ago I was awarded a grant to support an internship at Stand Alone, a charity for people experiencing estrangement. During my time there I worked with a colleague who facilitated therapeutic writing workshops. I wanted to explore ways I could include journaling in future research, so I looked for training opportunities in this field.

An ex-colleague mentioned the bullet journal course as they thought it would be good for managing my projects and tracking my health. I was familiar with the Bullet Journal Method already, but I hadn’t used it for long. When I looked at the website I saw there were open scholarships for the foundation plan, so I decided to apply.

For those who are not familiar with bullet journaling, I would describe it as a customisable life tracker. There are plenty of free resources online about how to bullet journal, and you can preview the book on VLEbooks (using your OCA login). The scholarship I was awarded gives me access to online training resources and a community so we can support each other in our practice.

The community aspect of the scholarship was something I didn’t realise I needed. I thought I would just watch videos and attend events, but I ended up connecting with other people across the world who are using their bullet journals to help manage wellness, workloads, study, home life, and family commitments.

I had a period of illness during the middle of the month. Medical professionals are not sure what triggered it. I had temporarily ceased my regular medication following advice from a consultant psychiatrist, but that change should have stabilised my mood rather than heightened it. My neighbour also passed away the day my latest period of psychosis started. I hadn’t realised how bad it was until one afternoon I noticed my feet were sore, and I later received a phone call that I had wandered to my GP surgery where they had flagged concerns with the Adult Community Mental Health Team. I looked at my socks and realised I’d been walking the streets, on an incredibly hot day, without shoes. 

As alarming as this sounds, I got through the month relatively unscathed (just don’t mention the tragic haircut I gave myself at home). And I have been recording my recovery in my bullet journal so the scholarship came at just the right time!

I also updated Learner Support about this period of illness. Even though I don’t think I need additional support with my study at the moment, it was good to update my Wellness Recovery Action Plan. 

Bring on September - I’m ready for you.