As someone who both hates and loves routine, my days vary drastically. I enjoy spontaneity, but crave the consistency that routine provides. As such, while this may be a day in my life, this is nowhere near what a usual day is. At this point, I’m not even sure myself what a typical day looks like for me. But it is days like today, filled with productivity, movement, and joy, that make me glad to be an online student.
Morning
Winter has begun, and living in Tasmania, that means waking up to frost on the ground and -2°C temperatures. Dragging myself out of bed, I put on so many jackets I can hardly move and say good morning to my puppy.
Luckily for her and her super fluffy coat, she loves the cold! She performs her typical morning zoomies around the paddocks, chasing a ball and leaving me wondering if she will ever get tired, while I go and feed my horse.
Questioning my choices in deciding to try something new, I head to my first reformer Pilates class. While I did enjoy it, my body was wondering why I subjected it to this torture! My friend and I grabbed a coffee afterwards and went for a sunrise walk across the beach.
Study begins
Once I got home, I grabbed my overnight chia pudding from the fridge, and my laptop, and made myself comfortable by the fire. The rest of my morning involved catching up on some lectures, making my notes, checking my emails and revising for my upcoming final exam.
Midday
It seemed I felt like being healthy today as I prepared my lunch of toast, with smashed avocado, homegrown tomatoes, parmesan cheese and kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).
After lunch, I took my puppy for a big, long walk along this river track through the bush. I am lucky to have some great walking tracks just near my house. As I praised myself for finally tiring out my very active puppy, I gave her lunch and let her have a big sleep.
The studying resumed as the hours seemed to drag by, separated by random scrolling on Pinterest, music and snack breaks throughout.
Afternoon
I was finally up to date with my lectures and the sun had finally come out, so I decided to grab my helmet and head out to my horse. Riding is my favourite thing, a time when I can just forget about studying and all my worries and just have fun. I finished feeding and rugging her and headed back inside to prepare dinner.
Night
After dinner, I spent some time relaxing by the cozy fire and unwinding from the day’s activities. I got everything organised for work the next day and said goodnight to my puppy before curling up in bed with a warm blanket and a good book.
Thankfully, I had a productive day to get on top of my schoolwork before a full day of work tomorrow. It is days like these when I’m thankful I can study online with the flexibility to do things in my day that bring me joy and fulfil my life.
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative
