Written by Grace Carpenter
When I began studying Paramedicine at the start of 2022, I thought I knew everything about studying, work-life balance, and what my future career would look like.
Over the past two years, I have learnt so much about paramedicine and myself.
During year 12, I had very good study habits and assumed these would stay the same throughout the rest of my life, but I discovered at university that the way I learn is constantly changing, and so I had to start trying things out of my comfort zone.
I had avoided studying in groups throughout all of high school, but the complexity of Paramedicine taught me that being able to bounce ideas off other people and learn from them is an incredibly valuable skill.
Paramedicine has taught me resilience through how to bounce back from negative marks and work harder than ever to improve myself.
This skill will carry me all throughout my career, and I am so grateful for the challenges that strengthened my resilience.
Paramedicine has taught me to prioritise sleep as much as possible which has been incredible in maintaining my motivation.
I work to keep a healthy social life.
I have learnt that if I work hard during the week, I can stop studying by dinner time and relax for the night, and I can have weekends free.
This has been vital in maintaining my motivation as it allows me to have a break, and it reduces the chance of burnout.
I have found that if my social life is thriving, then I am more likely to stay focused on what I love about my degree.
Being a Paramedic is not going to be easy at all.
The content and information can be learnt and remembered and put into practice.
However, it is learning to survive in a stressful, high energy environment that I believe will be the hardest part for me.
Although, I don’t think I will fully be able to learn about what I personally need to maintain a career in this field until I am working in it, I believe that university has prepared me by making me learn about myself and how my body reacts to stress.
With only one year left in my degree, I spend a lot of time thinking about where to apply for jobs, whether I’ll get one, and how long I’ll stay there, but I am also thinking about how scared and excited I am.
In 2024, I hope to maintain my motivation and work as hard as I have been for the past two years; I hope to not only practice my skills on placements, but also calm some nerves surrounding my future career; and I hope most of all that I graduate with the confidence that I will excel in my field.
