Hello . . . I'm Back !

          Damn, it's been a while since I actually posted on this page, I promise to do better 🤞. I've said this a lot before but I am truly committing to blogging this year. I will update the blog at least once a month. These posts will be centred around either my personal life or just stuff I see happening day to day.

          For all the persons who've been telling me daily, "You need to start back blogging", I am so sorry but your girl been busy 😅. I'll truly make an effort to actually write and post some more.



P.S Happy New Year !

Word of the Post: "Toxic"

         
          It's been a while since I have blogged but hey, I only blog when I feel there's something I need to write about.

        Recently I have distanced myself from a couple people and well if you're one of those persons this post is not me being shady towards you at all. This is actually me thanking you. Sometimes you need people in your life who may not necessarily be the ideal friends (this may seem strange), but regardless they teach you valuable lessons. The older you become and go through certain situations you notice that everyone you may have been friends with before don't need to be apart of every journey of your life. There's nothing wrong with distancing yourself from people.

          I'm not saying people are toxic by the way, I actually am tired seeing that term. It's like that's all people know now! Toxic, toxic, toxic. What I am saying is if you realise though that you can only talk about people's business and all sort of other negative stuff with certain individuals, well sorry to break it to you that's not a friendship. Do these people know when you're sick? Do they care if you're sick? Will they randomly check up on you? Highly unlikely, it may be time to let them go. Nothing is wrong with that. Everyone isn't destined to be your friend.

          I've also decided to blog way more these days, when I do get the chance I should say, a girl be looking to be on dean's list, need that 3.6 and up. But in working with blogging more I intend to add a "cliché" quote to the end of each post.

"A false friend and a shadow only attend when the sun shines"- Benjamin Franklin

Carrie Berry

Obstacles

          Many times in life we are faced with situations that we may rather not be in. More often than not we ask ourselves "why me?" "what have I done to deserve this?". We have all had these times in our lives where we felt totally down and as if the entire world was against us. For those who may be religious, you may begin to question your faith, etc. We all go through these trying times, and sadly this is mine. I am convinced my world may be crashing right down. In my previous post I wrote on how I was VERY close to dropping out of UWI, but this too shall past. I shall now make UWI my bitch. I have enrolled in summer school and I will be doing EVERYTHING I can to be successful.
         
          There is NOTHING wrong with having to stop and restructure your life. Sometimes your initial path may not be the path for you, but you know what? You shall find your way ! These are obstacles, but you should see them as stepping stones and building blocks. These minor discrepancies make you grow as a person, after all this blog is on "adulting". Let all these things be lessons, nothing in life should be a mistake, if you may think it is, turn that into a lesson.

One Step at a Time

          This blog is entitled "Adulting" and the url says "The Ripening of Berry" , now it's time to actually get back on track with my theme. As my first year of university has been completed, I have faced some obstacles in my way that honestly, I have thought many times to just not go back for a 2nd year. Take some time off and then go back, this still is a thought. I guess we'll see what I decide to do, but currently I am in the frame of mind of taking a year off. Now some may think of this as me quitting, it really isn't. I think of it as me doing what is best for me. My program is EXTREMELY challenging, I LOVE maths but sometimes I ask myself "is it worth it?" This question I have been asking myself a lot recently. As I grow day by day I have come to realise that sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Maybe me taking a year off from UWI won't be a bad idea, but maybe it will be. I truthfully don't know. Many see me and always wonder why I'm always smiling, why am I always happy. Well truthfully that is far from the truth. Many times I sat in my match box and cried because the workload was overwhelming, it was too much and I quite frankly wanted to give up. Many times I called mummy and told her I want to come home. I'm still within the frame of mind to give up, well not give up but simply take a year off and get back into the groove. Guess we'll see what I decide to do in a couple of weeks to come.

Beauty?

Many people these days are struggling with fitting in, feeling comfortable within their own skin and just simply loving themselves. No matter who you are at some point in your life you have felt this way. A friend of mine who wishes to be anonymous wrote an AMAZING paper on this. After reading it and realising I can identify with it and many of you can, I took the opportunity to share her paper with you.

A.Nyomi.B

26^th March 2018

Meaning of Beauty

What is beauty? What makes her beautiful and not me? Can I change what I see in the mirror to look like her? These are a few of the questions racing the minds of many women today. As a consequence of the rigid, societal beauty standards many persons believe it is crucial that they have a certain body image or physical features to be considered beautiful. Many of us often critique ourselves or try to alter how we look to fit into society’s “ideal” beauty standards. However, we must learn to be comfortable in our own body.

Beauty standards are essentially “what society says is good enough.” According to an article in the Huffman Post newspaper, “the feminine beauty ideal is the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain.” The article further explains that as technology changes from generation to generation so does beauty standards. This statement is true, think about it? All around us are television shows, magazines and social media websites which influence many young girls to believe that they must change their body image (whether it is weight, hair, face, breasts etc.) to be “perfect.” So, when these media platforms change “the ideal beauty” so does society. Our society has instilled in some women that specific physical features are essential and since we are constantly judged on our appearance, many persons believe they must try to meet these social constructs.

           I once struggled with learning to love myself or trying to look “beautiful”.  A few persons would often lift my slender arms, wrap their thumb and middle finger around my wrist to measure the size of my arms. This was often followed by a comment such as “Wow, you are extremely skinny, you should eat more!” Other comments would include “I can see your collar bones and ribs, you need more meat on your bones.” Or “You would look better with more weight, a similar size to hers” while the person pointed at a magazine or screen. These scenarios are forever etched in my mind. After constantly hearing these words, I always felt that I was not good enough - the girl who was too skinny, had too much acne and not a perfect smile. I believed I needed to be slim but not TOO skinny, have a little weight but not TOO much, have curves, abs and clear acne-free skin and a pretty face. OH! and my hair, it was a bit “knotty” so it should fall on my back and not rise to the sky. However, after years of introspection, meeting girls who had   similar “problems” as I did and listening to songs such as “Pretty Hurts “by Beyoncé, I began to accept how I looked and I realized that I was perfect just the way I am.

The song “Pretty Hurts” depicts a girl who trained to be a pageant queen from the time she learned to walk, and it was always instilled in her mind that beauty is more important that brains. She always tried to a match a body type described as “Blonder hair, no flat chest, TV says bigger is better, South Beach, sugar free, Vogue says, Thinner is better.” To her this is what was perfect and even if she didn’t want to change she’ll just “pageant the pain away.” This song caused me to ponder on what is beauty, how did these standards evolve and what makes certain features more accepted than others. BUT as previously mentioned beauty is a social construct therefore what is beautiful to me may not be beautiful to you, it is all about your perspective. Therefore, it pains me that many young girls across the globe are struggling with something which I went through for many years (as it is a process). This is all due to rigid, societal standards. However, as technology is changing, and more people are growing up with a different mindset than in primitive times, physical features outside of the “ideal beauty standards” are becoming more accepted. For example, there are more plus-sized models than ever before, younger black girls and women are wearing their natural curls and afros in public spaces, television shows and showcasing it on social media.

        Melissa Victoria Harris-Perry is “an American writer, professor, television host, and political commentator with a focus on African-American politics.” In her blog post, television segments and YouTube videos she inspires black girls to be comfortable with their own hair. She has struggled with learning to love her “knotty” hair afro and even now she receives harsh comments from viewers who believe her hair should be more “neat” when she presents on screen. In her blog post “I remember Every Hairdo I’ve had in 40 years” she speaks about her hair journey. For her, growing up in predominantly white communities as a mixed child with hair which looked different and took time to manage; she always felt like she didn’t fit in. Eventually she relaxed her hair, so it can look like the other girls. She articulates in her blog post “Things changed in sixth grade when I started making my own decisions about my hair. I looked at magazines with pictures of predominantly white women at the time. I don’t think I found Essence magazine until middle school. I didn’t know that if I cut my hair, it would grow up, not down. So, when I thought I was cutting a bob, I cut a fro.” After years of having relaxer, she moved to North Carolina to attend Wake Forest University and she described the experience as “an absolute hair revelation” She reminisces stating “It was the first time I lived with other black women—14 to be exact—in a house centered on black women’s identity” and from that moment on she began to accept her hair and now she empowers young black girls to do the same. She constantly receives harsh comments about her afro or braided hair on social media however, she does not let that deter her from showcasing her black beauty.

Melissa Perry is a role model to many black females whether young or old and I applaud her for her work so far. This is what I hope to do, encourage black girls especially from a young age that they are beautiful despite what others think. As the song “Pretty Hurts” states “perfection is a disease of a nation”, a very contagious one as society’s beauty “ideals” are passed from one person to another through social contact, magazines, social media and television shows. Some people are mentally affected while others are not. However, we (as a society) must understand that beauty is seen from your perspective, it is unique, inculcates various body types, hair, skin color, heights and it goes far beneath the surface.

 P.S This paper does not belong me ! I give A. Nyomi.B all credit for this amazingly done assignment ! 

REX NETTLEFORD HALL PT. 2

          You've asked and I have delivered. Many people have asked me about Rex Nettleford Hall and I have come to realise that, there is no where you can find out about the hall really, unless you speak directly to someone.
           The hall is "supposedly" 800 students, Now, this number seems like a lot but let me break it down for you. There are 8 and a half clusters (I say half because Cluster 3, has only half the number of residents the other clusters have, therefore they have joined with C4 to be Alliance). Each cluster has a particular patron and colours associated with it.

          There are as follows:

• C1: Walter Rodney- Green,black and white. 
• C2: Simon Bolivar- Blue and white. 
• Alliance (C3 and C4): Marcus Garvey- red, yellow, green and black.
• C5: Jimmy Cliff- Black and yellow.
• C6: Louise Bennett- purple, yellow and white.
• C7: Samuel Sharpe- red and black.
• C8: Touissant L'Overture- red, blue and white.
• C9: Fidel Castro- blue and yellow.

Activities on hall:

          During orientation you will find HIDDEN talents, trust me ! There are fresher sports, debate, dance and drama. Enjoy your orientation period, it is a learning process.

           There will be activities on the cluster level also, take part in stuff for your cluster. You DEFINITELY should take part in stuff for your cluster. It is a way to bond with your clustermates. I can say that I have socialised with my fellow Samurais (C2) by taking part in various activities. Not only are there sports, but there is fashion, cooking, etc. There is something for EVERYONE.

          Now, on a hall level, there are intramural competitions, PLEASE take part in something ! It helps to get back your room, the next year. No hall wants anyone living there who would have done NOTHING for the hall. Personally, I have done sports I would have never tried in my life. Lord knows, if Stephie (current hall gcc) didn't live on my flat and had the CUTEST begging face, I won't have left my bed many mornings, honestly. Though I grumbled the many mornings she woke me, I still got up and represented my hall in whatever way I can.

          As a first year there is a special program just for you, this is known as First Year Experience (FYE). FYE, helps you to transition into UWI smoothly, there are sessions held every week and you SHOULD attend. Attend a DECENT amount of sessions and you have the opportunity of a special treat (I won't say, just go attend and see for yourself).

Meeting People:

          Living on hall is a good way to meet people. I am honestly not a social person but that was slightly broken out of me by living on hall. The people you live with have a lot to do with that. I am the ONLY first year on my flat and the YOUNGEST on the flat, so my flatmates consider me the baby of the flat, they actually gave me the name "Baby Bajan" . When living on Rex, you must understand that not everyone will have the same upbringing as you, see everything your way, etc. It is people from all over who are now coming together to live in a shared space.

          During orientation is a good way to make friends, talk to the other freshers from your cluster, interact with the other freshers, it may even help to talk to your orientation committee. These same people maybe able to help you with your journey as a first year.

Cluster Structure:

          Each cluster has 4 blocks. These blocks are listed as A,B,C and D. Each block has 3 levels, currently the males live on the bottom floor and the females live on the middle and top floors. When you are given your key, you will see a set of numbers, an example would be 5432, this means CLUSTER 5, C BLOCK, TOP FLOOR, ROOM 2. The numbers on the keys actually mean something.

Flat Structure:

          Each flat has 8 rooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 showers. A common area with a couch and 2 single seats along with a dining table. There is also the kitchen with one refrigerator, a stove and microwave.
With respect to cleaning, you do not clean your flat, there are cleaners hired to do that, you are however, responsible to keep your stove tidy.

          There is a study table with a chair (if you're all back like me take my foolish advise and buy a cushion for that chair), a closet and chest of drawers that can be moved also. Your room will have one adjustable twin sized bed, adjustable meaning the height of the bed can be changed and also the bed can be moved. You may store your groceries outside in the cupboard if you wish.You are responsible for the cleaning of your room. Yes, yes the rumors you heard of our rooms being small is true, but guess what your small room is just way too comfortable at times. 

          NOW TO YOU PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO KEEP A LOT OF NOISE, THE WALLS ARE VERY THIN! YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE HAVING A CONVERSATION AND YOUR ENTIRE FLAT IS HEARING YOU  ! I BEG YOU TRY TO BE QUIET  IN ALL YOU DO. I talk to my flatmate with both of our doors closed and we have conversations across the corridor... a word to the wise in ENOUGH.

This is all I can think of to say for night now with regards to the hall. If you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments sections below and I will try to answer as quickly as possible. I currently have exams going on so I may take a while to reply, but I reassure you I will reply to any questions. 

I end by showing you the bond I have made with these lovely ladies who live on my flat. I will always have love for each and every one of them ! I hope as a first year you have an amazing set of flatmates, who will not only guide you as a new student of UWI, but will become your sisters/brothers as these young ladies have become mine ! 233 ! 

Letting go. . .

        Most of my posts are either about personal experience or something a friend inspired to write it. This post is friend inspired (S).

         Sometimes in life you KNOW that for your sanity and your wellbeing on a whole you just need to get rid of some things from your life, whether that being a person, a thought etc. You just know when some things aren't for you. When you realise you're getting more of a headache from a situation why are you allowing yourself to still be in the said situation? Is it worth your sanity ? NO, it isn't. Sometimes you are holding onto something simply because you are accustomed to it and it seems to have become a norm for you. NO. That should not be the case at all.

Some situations aren't worth your attention. Get over your pride and simply do what is BEST for you.You may think you're doing the best for whoever else it may be but you know what? SELF PRESERVATION IS KEY ! Study yourself first ! think is this working for me? AM I HAPPY? Answered no to any of these? You know what you need to do, get rid of whatever it is! Somethings you can sit and talk about what's bothering you but talking only goes so far. You talked and saw no results start running for the hills ! 

I KNOW letting go is hard to do, however, sometimes you just need to. Think about what the image is saying. 

"Don't let someone feel comfortable disrespecting you." - Some person on google. 

P.S I've hardly blogged because I am really trying to work on getting A's this semester. 

"Shoot your shot"

          Shoot your shot as defined by urban dictionary (funny I use this source but hey, they were the best one) is "To let go of your pride and pursue someone you are interested in." Let's take this a little bit deeper, shoot your shot with regards to anything, not just a person. 

       
         Life is too short to keep putting off what you really want to do. (I may be a bit hypocritical in writing this, but whatever Olivia!). If something is going to make you happy, then go ahead and do just that (I AM NOT ENCOURAGING YOU TO DO ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITY). Seriously though, shoot your shot. So many amazing opportunities may await you but you'll never know because you're being too shy, watching your pride or protecting your ego. Whichever it is don't let any of these things stop you from setting out on the path you wish to be,-I AM SERIOUSLY not encouraging you to be reckless or indulge in illegal activity- 

Dedicated to Raquel ✨ 

          

          

Decemeber 31st, 2017. LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE

          As this year comes to close, we sit back and tend to reflect. We think of all we could have done, what we shouldn't have done and what we really enjoyed doing. Life is TOO short to live with regret. Do something you always wanted to do, learn to swim (hahaha, so funny to anyone who really knows me), climb Blue Mountain, get that wine from that guy ( Tia, LOL I'm reading your messages right now) Just remember, no one can live your life for you, only you can so live your BEST life.

          To everyone going to their various NYE events whether it be the beach, a party or to church I have one thing to say to you (WHY DID NO ONE INVITE ME?! I shall be watching Family Guy tonight and HEARING fireworks, but hey I'm not salty.... actually I am) no seriously, go out tonight and have nice SAFE, CLEAN, WHOLESOME fun.

          HAVE A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE 2018

          P.S
          To any one of you lovely individuals who wish come to spend my NYE with me watching Family Guy, MESSAGE me. Olivia leaves me every year to go Guyana when she knows full well, I don't talk to much people and she is literally my social butterfly.

P.P.S (I'm enjoying this too much)
DO NOT MESSAGE ANY OF MY DEVICES SAYING "I haven't bathed for the year" " I haven't done ..... for the year". PLEASE TO REFRAIN FROM SENDING ME ANY OF THIS. I WILL BLOCK YOU FOR 2018.
       
     

Be vocal or stay a prisoner...

          THIS WILL BE A POST WITH DIFFERENCE. ORIGINALLY THIS WAS TO NEVER BE PUBLISHED... but hey enjoy what goes on in my not so interesting life.


          This semester I met someone who told me I need to become more vocal, never have I thought I would hear a person say this to me. However, after this person made that statement I then realised I am actually NOT very vocal (so thank you for that).
          I had an interesting and departing conversation recently (December 25th, lol merry Christmas to you) the first time I took the advice of the "friend" mentioned before . Now this conversation brought out many emotions such as :

• happiness-because I finally took the advice of the "friend" I met and it felt amazing.
• sorrow (is this really the word I mean to use? meh what ever "fancy" word you can find to replace sadness)- simply because as I said before it was a departing conversation
• apologetic- somethings that were said should have remained unsaid (so much for being vocal) 

         From having this conversation I can say I am indeed happy with who I am becoming. Normally, I would have backed down and not say what it was that I really wanted to say, however, I took the advice of that "friend" and said EXACTLY how I felt and you know what? I feel amazing!
 

You may ask why I just wasted your time, but what I want is that we all speak up. Be vocal. Say what it is you want, no one can read your mind. Stop allowing your wandering thoughts to keep you a prisoner in your own mind. 

The stick ....

          This post was not to be published until probably late next year, however, this post was needed. I look at life as a stick (don't judge me yet, I'm about to explain). Have you ever had a stick and broken it in half? Have you ever tried putting it back together to make that said stick whole again? Have you noticed that no matter what you do that stick will never be whole again? You can try tape, glue, plaster, anything and it still won't be whole again, it may appear whole but it still won't ever, there's always going to be a space. Now think back to how many people you probably broke, you may not even know it but you probably said something to someone that hurt them more than you can imagine, not only your words, but actions speak volume.
         I know many people are doing this whole new year, new me bullshit, I personally don't believe in that shit. Those normally last for about 4 days the most and then you're back to old self. Do you know why this won't work? You can't change yourself in just a couple days? It took 9 months for you to form in your mother and you think you can change in a matter of days? HOKAY MIRACLE WOKRER!
          SPEAKING OF CHANGE! NOW TELL ME WHY PEOPLE SET OUT TO CHANGE OTHERS?! UNLESS YOU ARE AIDING THIS PERSON WITH GROWTH THAT WILL MAKE THEM A BETTER PERSON FOR NOT ONLY YOU, BUT THEMSELF AND THOSE AROUND THEM, PLEASE TO SEE THAT PERSON AND LEAVE THEM TF ALONE.
          As the year comes to a closing in a matter of days, look back at how many people you may have hurt, if possible apologise to that person. Yes, I know your ego may be shattered by you doing this but you know what? Somethings are bigger than your ego. I'll also do this, however I cannot do it specifically because I probably said stuff to people that I don't even know. This is me apologising to whoever you are, my HUMBLEST apologies, I had no idea what I said or did hurt you the way it did. ( I AM THANKFUL FOR MY GROWTH, LORD GOD KNOWS I WAS NEVER ONE TO APOLOGISE)

         

"Grow up" "Goals"

         How often have you heard those two words? How does one even do this ? What does it mean to "grow up". With 4 more days until my 19th birthday, I'm forced to ask myself, have I actually "grown'. Growth can be physical, mental and or emotional. Which do we speak of? Funny enough, when we were all much younger the one thing we wanted to do the most was to "grow up". I don't know about you but I personally wish I was as carefree as I was when I was 6/7, but as fate and reality would have it, that won't ever happen.
          Everyone, will "grow up" at their own pace. I personally think that to "grow up" takes courage. To know what you want in life is a courageous act, we all have goals (heck I listed mine in the previous post) but are those goals short term or long term? I would say my goals currently are pretty short term. Take some time now to think and ask yourself "WHAT ARE MY GOALS? WHAT AM I DOING TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS?" Now let's be realistic, don't have goals you KNOW cannot be achieved.... An unrealistic "goal" of mine would be all A's this semester, I say unrealistic because I know I did not put in enough work to actually achieve that. Now I would say all A's in my 1st semester would be a dream, not a goal. What is the difference you may ask, for ME a dream is something you wish would happen but never take the necessary steps to actually get there (like you telling that one person you've been practically stalking for months how much you care for them, going to Paris etc.) a goal however, I believe this is something you put your mind to and set out to do this. You put all necessary measures in place to actually get the end result you aimed for.
         Physical growth? My physical growth would have to be that I no longer look like an old potato (no I will not insert a photo here). AMEN FOR PUBERTY!
         Mental growth? This is a tough one, I may not have had the mental growth that most people my age has mainly because we all go through situations in life to make us the way we are. I do know though I have grown mentally, not to the "I don't give a f*ck" point mainly because I just think that's a stupid mind-set to have, but who am I to judge?
          Emotional growth? I think this should just go hand in hand with your mental growth. WITH THE EXCEPTION of HAPPINESS ! "Why are you always smiling?" "You always seem so happy" Why frown when I can smile? Why must I wear my problems on my face? No don't do that. No one needs to know when you're sad or going through something. You do not need to wear your problems on your face. ALSOOOO, IT IS ABSOLUTELY OKAY TO JUST SIT AND CRY ! We all have different reasons as to why we would be crying and you know what ?! Let no one tell you "You're too big to be crying" If your only way of escape from this world for a couple of minutes is to cry, then do just that !

Why I chose what I chose ....

        A central purpose of Statistical Science is to convey the richness, breadth and unity of the field by presenting the full range of contemporary statistical thought at a modest technical level accessible to the wide community of practitioners, teachers, researchers and students of statistics and probability.
         Many have asked and CONTINUE to ask what is statistical science and WHY I chose it. I absolutely love doing anything that involves numbers. One may ask why, but I absolutely adore Mathematics, because unlike other subjects where there is one way to arrive at the answer, in mathematics I can apply various methods to arrive at that same answer. It's a more practical subject than most, where as many courses require a lot of reading. Any course which requires me to do a lot of reading, I will not succeed in, mainly because I just cannot sit and read what's on the page and memorise it.
        With me pursuing a degree in Statistical Science I could have the job of an a forensic statistician, medical statistician, pharmaceutical statistician and many other statistical jobs, these are just a few, but not what I really wish to do. My dream is to work within Sagicor General as a statistician. Why Sagicor you may ask, mainly because I have had the opportunity to see how they handle their daily tasks and I became captivated with their work environment, how diligent they are and how hardworking they are. 

My goals currently are :
* All A's in my second semester (at the end of second semester I will definitely update to let all who are reading, know if this goal was accomplished) 
* Maintain a GPA no lower than 3.7 

P.S 
to anyone who has not figured out their career path or future as yet, do not allow people to make you feel inferior. I have changed my mind on numerous occasions, as you can see from my first blog post. However, I was able to find the path that I truly love. Find what you love doing and stick at it. 😊😘

 

Life on Hall (Rex Nettleford Hall)

Choosing a hall to live on was another tough decision. The UWI Mona Campus has many halls to choose from, each with their own unique sense of style, culture and tradition.
 The halls of choice are as follows:

• Rex Nettleford Hall
• ELR Towers
• ABC
• AZ Preston
• Leslie Robison
• 138 Phase 2
• Irvine
• Taylor Hall

My hall of choice was Rex Nettleford Hall #BIGBADREX! Moving onto hall for me was scary as I knew absolutely no one who was going to the UWI Mona Campus and I knew no one who was staying on the same hall as a first year.

Moving in day:

          Initially I was to move onto hall August 20th, however, my flight was booked for August 21st. So that obviously was not going to happen. I then "moved" onto hall August 23rd (well not exactly, I ensured I had a room and just never slept in it until the next week). When I first saw my room I must admit I was not very happy, as it looked really small and really reminded me of a prison cell.... sadly  I have no photos of how my room looked before I made it into the room I really wanted. However, I was able to get past that and after decorating it I was quite happy with my room. (See room below) The kitchen area is quite nice and spacious for 8 people to be able to manoeuvre comfortably. (see below)

My room (well my bed lol)

memories wall

kitchen area

If asked which hall to stay on I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Rex Nettleford, yes people are quick to say that our rooms are small but TRUST me your match box will be very cosy, even too cosy at times that you cannot study as it's just too comfortable, the library will be your BEST FRIEND. If you're a female whose parents are sceptical about you living on a co-ed hall it's really not bad on Rex. The male to female ratio PER cluster is 2:1. You think you're not social enough to live to on hall? Then Rex IS the place for me. All the talks you hear about rex being the hall where it's one happy family, that absolutely is the truth. Your flatmates will become your sisters or brothers. No one is left to feel not welcomed. It is definitely a hall with spirit and vibes! 800 strong with the spirit of 8000!

VIBES CHECK

T-REX

VIBES CHECK

T-REX

VIBESSSSSS CHECKKKK

TTTTTTTTT-REXXXXXXX

Don't forget to follow them on their social media handles!

 P.S NO I AM NOT BEING PAID TO PROMOTE THE HALL LOL, I JUST LIKE THE HALL A LOT.

Let's get to the real point now ADULTING!
I came from my home where my mom practically did EVERYTHING for me, cook, clean, wash you name it. Obviously, that was not going to happen now. I'm in a whole other country living on my own, I had to learn how to fend for myself and FAST.
People always say "Ramen is a university student's best friend" this was not the case for me, my best friend was and is Mac and Cheese. However, I cannot just eat Mac and Cheese so this meant, time to TRY cooking. NEVER have I ever cooked anything for myself other than boil pasta.... from this you know I  CANNOT cook. It was time to try though, but cooking does not only mean cooking, it means I have to go grocery shopping by myself in a new country and spend my own money on a trolley or basket full of food. I was not too keen on this as I did not know the good yet reasonable brands to buy. Somehow I figured it out mainly by looking for names I have heard of back home in Barbados before. Grace, eve etc. After  I was able to overcome my fear of shopping alone, it was now time to actually prepare the meal! Nothing fancy was going to be cooked as I am still a novice in the kitchen, I opted for a simple Macaroni Pie and chicken. To my amusement and the people on my flat, it actually came out good, if I do say so myself.

 

Enough of my cooking stories, time to talk about laundry.... Of course to do laundry we have to pay $100JAM ($1.54 BDS) a load. Before my mom left she told me separate your clothes according to dark and jeans, lights and whites. I did as I was told, HOWEVER, I had absolutely NO idea that I could put them all to dry in the SAME dryer. I did 3 separate washes and 3 separate dryers... costing me $600. This is not even the worse, I had THREE white shirts and spent $100 washing them in their own washer because I did not know there was a wash room where I could wash my stuff and just then put them into the dryer. Thankfully, I learned from my trial and error of my laundry mishap.

Cleaning the living space, now the hardest part of this is cleaning my room, it's not the biggest but from the time I move one thing, EVERYTHING is just out of place and I have a room resembling a pig sty.Thankfully when we sign our contract to live on rex it's stated in the contract that cleaners will come and clean our flat and you are solely responsible for the cleaning of your room. They will clean the kitchen, bathroom, common area and hall way. All I'm to do is ensure my flatmates wash their dishes and that my room is clean !

DECISIONS

          Since being accepted to UWI Mona in January. January 27th to be exact, I knew that moving would be inevitable. Not only was I to prepare myself for living away from home but it came to the point I had to choose my career path. THIS MEANT I WAS FORCED TO BE AN ADULT WAYYY BEFORE I WAS READY!
          When I was in 4th form my career path was to be a physiotherapist, BUT you know what happened? I encountered that Biology was just not for ME! Then I realised, I LOVED using NUMBERS. Actuarial Science then was my path. However, just like Physiotherapy and Biology I realised Economics was not for me. This then left me in a SERIOUS slump as I was accepted into school and had no idea what it was I wanted to do with my life.
         After many sleepless nights of wondering what the hell I am to do with an acceptance and no career plan, I then decided why not do what I love. This means as you know I chose to pursue a BSc in Statistical Science.

PS. This is my first post with more to come.