THE POWER OF REFLECTION

THE POWER OF REFLECTION

Sunday, December 8

I know it's been some time since I've taken out the time to write out something. Life got kind of crazy, and in all fairness I believe you guys may be going through the same thing - UNI APPLICATIONS.

However, this post isn't about education or mental health - it's more of an eye opener, or so I suppose it is. It's a reminder to myself, to remember who I am and never put anybody else before me.

This year I lost someone close to me, no, not like that. We had been best friends for about six years now and there wasn't a single moment that we never spoke. We'd go to school together, spend lunch times together, sit next to each other in lessons and even take the train home.

I think by being so proud of our friendship, I got very tied up and forgot who I was as a person. Everything began to revolve around them and it was very unhealthy. I'd hate spending any second without this person and would become very angry when they had other commitments. I believed that by being my best friend they should always be available, even if it meant putting me before their personal life or family.

When I sit now and type this, I began to realise the difference between this specific friendship and my other two best friends. I believe I poured a lot of pride and effort into this one friendship that it resulted in both our downfalls. In fact, to my other two best friends, thank you for showing me what best friend's are truly meant to be like. Nothing but gratitude to you both <3

I never saw myself as a manipulative, rude and bitchy individual. I knew what my intentions were, but everyone around us could see that I was becoming this 'bad' girl. Those who were close to me, understood that this wasn't me. They would warn me, tell me; 'Sooms, this isn't right.'

Did I listen? No.

Why?

Because I was blinded. It is now that I realise how toxic this friendship was. I couldn't grow individually. I became dependant. I did a lot of things I wasn't proud of. But I could never bring myself around to say I regretted it. Because, truth is I don't.

I gave away a lot of love and everything I had to make sure this friend was always happy, even if it meant they never realised it. I would cause arguments so they would spend more time to talk to me.

I used to be in love with always being angry. It made me feel powerful of the future I had no control over. My mental health fell, my happiness relied upon making this one person happy. My family, hobbies and other friend's couldn't fill the void of sadness I would feel when this person wasn't present.

But something happened, and life changed. I lost them - not in the 'to be alive is to breathe' type of way but the 'we don't talk anymore' type of way.

Whilst this happened, I spoke to every single friend I had. I realised how much love I had to share. To all my friends reading this today. I love every single one of you, and I'm sorry you had to see me go through this tough phase of my life.

But that's okay. Im grateful. Because now I realise how much time I had wasted. Life changes in a second. This is sh*t we all know. You just don't realise it till you try to cleanse your heart.

Through prayer, my supportive friend's and reflecting upon who I was, I can finally say I'm ready for the next phase.

We need to be grateful for every second of our lives. That's my biggest lesson. The shoes we wear, the bed's we sleep in, even the warmth in this weather - appreciate it. Life changes. It does. It might have taken me thing long to get here, I may have been ignorant for such a long time, but I am glad of who I am.

Ultimately, everything happens for a reason.
Trust yourself.
Trust god.
As long as you're a good person, don't let anyone change that.

Stand up for yourself. The power to reflect upon your actions is in each and everyone of us. Stop for a moment and just think. If you're not happy with your life just think, try and try again.

My next post will be about dealing with rejections and doubting yourself: 'I'm not good enough.'

Sooms x  - 8/12/19

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LITTLE CATCH UP

LITTLE CATCH UP

Friday, September 20

Hey everyone.


I hope you are all doing well. I wanted to write this post as a little catch up as to where I have been these past few months. In between AS exams and juggling the UCAT, from personal statements to predicted grades the time of year is nearly here.


Soon, within the space of 1-2 weeks, I shall be submitting my UCAS application for medicine. I remember when I had started out with this journey, I made this little note on a post-it that covered the parts to this tedious application process. It went something like this:

-Work experience
-Predicted grades
-UCAT
-Personal statement (this sort of came before the UCAT too)
-UCAS submission
-Interview Prep
-Interview
-Conditional offer
-A level exams
-GET INTO MED SCHOOL!

Currently, I am situated in between the UCAS SUBMISSION and PERSONAL STATEMENT check points. I would like to know what your plans for university are!

Leave a comment below.
Sooms.

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WHAT I LOVED ABOUT MY WORK EXPERIENCE! + TIPS ON HOW TO FIND IT!

WHAT I LOVED ABOUT MY WORK EXPERIENCE! + TIPS ON HOW TO FIND IT!

Friday, May 3

As every aspiring doctor at A-level knows, GRADES and WORK EXPERIENCE. These are two very important things that will define how well you do in your process to medical school. Other things such as extracurricular's and sports and GCSE's are all very important too - especially when writing your personal statement. Any doctor also is required to be fit - so make sure you get some minutes on the treadmill in!!

Despite all this, remember your grades do come first. Comment down below if you'd like some tips on revising and a huge list of extracurricular activities you can do! In this post however, I will be tackling the biggest problem of all: WORK EXPERIENCE!

Now some of us may be lucky to have cousins and family members who work in the NHS, and although I do, it's never that easy trying to get some experience. The first step is if you do have family in the NHS or any contacts, get in touch. They act as a catalyst - and as we all know, its your quickest one way stop to get the experience you need.

If you do not then here are some things you can do to gain it. I'll firstly begin by telling you how my experience went. I have done experience at two hospitals and I volunteer at one. There were so many things that I enjoyed about my work experience, from open heart surgeries to visiting wards. I guess I did get very lucky.

My first day consisted of a 7 hour surgery where I stood the whole time, head held high over the drapes into the depths of someone's chest. It was everything I had imagined - and being able to see the surgery happen with my own eyes just reassured me that this, this is what I want to do.

The great thing about work experience is, if you have your heart set out on medicine then it'll be an opportunity for you to add it in your personal statement. However, if you do not know if medicine is right for you, then get some to find out!

Not all work experience is like the one I managed to get. So do not be disappointed if you were expecting open heart surgeries (if that excites you like me), but rather be grateful for any opportunity you get. The main thing to note here is that finding work experience is so hard, that once you do get it, you yourself will realise and be inclined into undertaking it.

With no breaks in between the entire surgery, I felt like a true surgeon. Standing there the entire time from knife to skin till the sutures and post op brief was given, I still thought to myself, how did I get here? After all, I even got scrubs!

The second day consisted of clinic. Clinic is an appointment service were pre op and post op patients are spoken to individually by their Doctor. Some clinics however vary in other departments. The clinic for cardio thoracic surgery examines pre and post op patients, whereas Rheumatology clinics asses the level of illness presented and determine medications and referrals if need be.

Many work experiences offered are clinic based and consist of shadowing consultants. The best thing to do on your placement is also to keep a reflective journal. This will enable you to write up about things on your personal statement. To gain some work experience, I'd start off by:

1) Contacts, family or friends - see if you can get to it quicker
2) Research - find places online or around your town that you can contact
3) If you have contacted someplace and they have not gotten back to you, keep emailing or calling them back till you have a definitive answer. In most cases, they just forget.
4) Ask anyone you see at networking events or anywhere - maybe they're Doctors from lectures or you go to a candy store and there is a Doctor there. Don't be afraid to ask
5) Attend lectures or any events - these are great places to get into contact with many Doctors who may be able to arrange something for you
6) Find online programmes / courses - these count as work experience too
7) Any form of volunteering long term may be counted.

If you want to hear more about my work experience comment down below, or if you would like to hear about anything else you may be struggling with. I will also be doing a medical condition post per week. This will consist of 2/3 medical conditions that you can learn about and may be asked during your interview.

Good luck.
Sooms.

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PUSHING THROUGH

PUSHING THROUGH

Sunday, December 9

***After a very long break, I've decided to come back and continue my posts.

I want to write my heart out here, I want to feel better knowing my words have impacted someone's life or changed their perspectives. ***

After someone had asked me how old I was today, I realised that being 17 meant that I only had 3 years left till my teen years are over. A part of me was dreading the adulthood, no more free bus travel and certainly more responsibility was yet to come. However, I decided that I want to stop focusing on the bad and just see everything that comes my way as an opportunity to improve. These next two years are going to be stressful yes, but that does not mean I can't take time out to focus on my wellbeing. After all, university will be a very fulfilling journey.

I want this blog to be an inspirational space, now that might mean overcoming lots of challenges in order to write about them, but I want to be able to write by whatever means necessary about absolutely anything.

My main focus right now is trying to get where I want to be. There will be phases were nothing goes right and you'll want to give up. In all honesty, I do give up. There is no rulebook to life, no one says you have to keep pushing. You chose to believe by disregarding your health, you'll cheat your way to the end.

You will get where you want to be, but you do not need to break your happiness, your body,  your sleep, even the number of meals you eat in order to get there. Sometimes, subtle sacrifices will have to be made - but you never put books before your health. I promise you, what is yours is meant to be.

I've been praying more than I normally have been and it made me realise that God has already planned your life out for you - so stop sabotaging it. Everything you go through happens for a reason. The best thing you can do is pray its the better outcome for you. If you're reading this, and you're going through problems don't feel afraid to talk to me ( you may leave and anonymous comment).

Pray you heal and pray your love for others is deeper than the oceans.

We are coming into 2019 very soon and I would love to write about my new years resolutions in the next post.

Leave a comment below on any post ideas you would like me to do - and also how are you feeling today?

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PRINTABLES

PRINTABLES

Saturday, December 1

It has been a very long break for me, from this blog and other things. I have been busy putting academics first and prioritising myself. In the spare time that I had taken off, I managed to create a few printables that you can download from this link.

Share with everyone :) and get those grade's Queens and Kings.

I will be back to blogging on Monday the 3rd.

DOWNLOAD HERE BEAUTIFUL

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ACCEPTANCE

ACCEPTANCE

Wednesday, October 17

The second step to recovering from anything melodramatic or depressing in your life is to finally accept it. Believe me, I’m not a life coach or psychologist, but I’m a teenager. Just like many of us, we all go through a stage in life which is simply challenging.

It’s about accepting that challenge. Take it into your control. You don’t need to let it control you or consume you. Nothing is a big deal until you believe so. Imagine your challenge is a vitamin pill. Now imagine that it gets stuck in your throat. What do you do?

Let’s state the facts. It’s a pill and it is stuck in your throat. It’s giving you problems by just being placed in your throat. You can either swallow it and relieve yourself or you can spit it back out and not accept it. In turn not swallowing the vitamin will result in you getting weak and disregarding the important essentials that you need. 

There’s a reason why you had to take the vitamins in the first place. Whether it’s to get healthier or to repair your body, these are the exact same reasons we suffer from challenges. We are tested to improve and repair our thinking and affection, in order to have a healthier and positive mindset. This is the reason we come across challenges ; to learn to get better from them. The point here is don’t take the difficult times hard, learn to be better from them and improve yourself. 

If you chose to have a negative mindset then the result would be the same. You can’t get anywhere from not accepting your problems for what they are, otherwise they’ll never get anywhere. They’ll be there draining you everyday. 

So swallow your pill. Take your life into control. And as I always say, stay hydrated loves!

Next post, this Sunday : ‘What college has taught me so far.’

-SOOMS 🖤

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MENTAL HEALTH : COMMUNICATION

MENTAL HEALTH : COMMUNICATION

Thursday, October 11

At the beginning of this post I wanted to dedicate it to mental health within the Asian Community. Although it is largely neglected within the Asian community, mental health also seems to be an issue no matter what ethnicity we're dealing with. (I wanted this post to be one whole message with all the issues suffered, but as I began typing I realised that there were so many and each deserve their own individual post.)

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Society has become so numb to emotions and feelings, where one man cheating is applauded for his shameful acts, where calling someone 'fat' isn't a compliment unless it's stigmatised with being 'thick'.

Regardless of these issues, we all overlook mental health, until we suffer from poor mental health so bad, we become numb. We pick up on slight changes in tone in someone's voice, the way they hide through their body language or even changes in their daily routine's.

Let me ask you something. The minute you break your phone screen, what do you do? You get it repaired, or you wait and eventually you get it repaired. When you break your arm, you go to the A&E and get it repaired. The pain won't go away, your bones will not heal immediately, but eventually our arm is repaired. Your arm heals. You heal.

Mental health is somewhat like that I guess.  If anything in the world can heal, so can you.
The most cliche line, if you have not heard it by now is 'You're not alone.' You probably expect me to disagree with this by now, but it's true. It may feel like you are, it may feel like your thoughts are eating you alive and the bad keeps you up at night. Rather it's what you want yourself to believe. You want to be alone because you feel comfort in keeping your problems to yourself. You feel secure.

The best way to start to heal yourself is to find that one person you can share your thoughts to. Mine wasn't my best friend, neither was it any of my friends in fact and it wasn't my parents at all. Rather it was my school teacher. She healed my heart with every smile she had when I came to see her. No matter what my issue was, she promised she'd be there, and she was. She made me feel happy whenever I was with her, and when I left her, I still felt that same 'happy'. Doesn't mean if someone is your friend you have to tell them everything or rely upon them. Sometimes, someone who knows nothing about you, seems to heal everything within you.

Eventually I opened up to my friends. With time and patience, they understood. It wasn't about trust, it was about communication. If I didn't feel comfortable they all understood to leave me alone. They knew when to give me space. Communicating how you feel is so important, and I urge you to do it.

For Monday's Post, I'll be covering 'Acceptance.'

Stay hydrated beautiful x

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