This is a bit long, so please, grab a cup of tea/coffee/water and read on! Hope this show you that we all have something to give back to the world. No time is ever wasted, not even a seconds..
Background Information
Inspiration to this blog post is from today’s (2/3/20) lecture: “Skills for professional practice for Bio science 2 module” (week 6) which was different from the usual. It was an interactive and awakening session as it focused on building students confidence and engagement, as it challenged the individual thinking capacity through sharing our individual personal development plan (PDP) with the classmate in randomly selected groups. The session challenged me to think back to my achievements and what the future hold. At the end of the session I felt like I really need to keep growing so as to give back to the world, endlessly.
Reflection
Initially, when the lecturer said we will be placed in groups and get to talk to different people on the module, I felt a bit reluctant and did not know what to expect, as I sit next to my course mate every lecture, although I am familiar with the rest. For some reason I felt there will be nothing to say. However, using the PDP as a guide made it easier and knowing that people have some common thoughts, ideas and struggle as myself encouraged me to share more about my experience and future plans. However, I did more of thinking than talking during the session. I did more of a shallow talk rather than deeper talking, as I am usually the talkative but I challenged myself to listen more and through this I was more reflective in my thoughts. I also did not felt comfortable sharing my achievements but hearing others share is encouraging. Although, I felt like I am the type that will only talk about my skills and achievements only when it is extremely necessary as I feel like it becomes a ground of comparison and competition, although it can be encouraging. This could have been shaped by my upbringing but I am not totally sure why. For example, I will be more open about my skills in an interview or an application or any other channel that needs to know in order to make a decision. However I admire those who share and I wish that could be. Although, during the session, I forced myself to share two of my obvious achievements which was completing a degree and gaining an offer for my Masters program as I felt it was easier and I did not want to be viewed as “extreme” by my course mate but as the normal me, Grace. Very casual.
The Present, The Past and The Future (some of my achievements so far…)
Present
On the other hand, this session made me think more about my future and some of the activities I have previously been a part of, most especially during my Undergraduate. At present I feel like I am not engaging enough outside academic compared to my Undergraduate as suppose to my Masters now as it is hectic…and I mean hectic (a project, and 3 modules to complete within the space of 12 weeks; practical, assessment and essays exam(s)). Despite this, I realised I have engaged as part of Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) Nigeria society as a student and also now hold the role of an event planner and recently planned a welcome fair and induction day with the committee. I also have passion for cooking and my creative mind I suppose as challenged me to start a sampling and plan on how to start a cooking business as I currently experiments with my Nigeria African recipes and to discover what my target audience enjoys and values. I have also had the opportunity to complete the core and Advance leadership programme here at GCU 2019/20 and have been awarded a certificate for it. Networking and emotional intelligence sessions.
Past
During my undergraduate I became a Faculty and Student Representative (Rep) for my Department (Advocate for 3 courses) and my class mates of about 50 students (there was 2 of us as Rep). Developing my communication skills as I advocate for my class. Through this channel I had the opportunity to create a Nutrition society as one of the discussion we picked up, as the students wanted a community on campus for the nutrition students which existed a year or two back but stopped as the student left and no one picked it up. So thinking back to it now, I became the president of Edge Hill University Nutrition society, year 2018/19 (alongside with 2 other nutrition students). During this period I also started volunteering for Food Bank in Ormskirk and this encouraged me to eat healthy and reduce food waste. It opened my eyes to see that the things I have others might necessarily not have and that wastage is unacceptable. Although now I tend to forget about this things easily until I see a reminder and that is one of the reason I enjoyed the “skills for professional practice Bioscience 1” as it focused on the 17 sustainability goals, although the assessment was time consuming. I think the healthiest I have ever been in my lifetime was when I was part of the Nutrition society and volunteered for food bank. And I mean healthiest in the sense that I became more aware of nourishing my body rather than calorie based; I learnt about nutritious food such as prebiotics and probiotics (gut food/gut health) and fibre. I included prebiotics food such as sprouted beans into my diet, as well as sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), I ate more seeds and nuts in my salads and used it more as toppings. Link to the society page on Facebook (view for images and activities). Click on here. WE ALSO WON THE BEST NEW SOCIETY (2019).
Despite the challenges of third year I found something that encouraged me all the time, something I enjoy doing to educate people about nutrition as I educate myself in return. I have never seen myself so out of my comfort zone, the effort I put in and the Grace and mercy of God that I cannot take for granted, the encouraging words of my lecturers, the loving and caring parent and siblings calls, the God sent friends, all encouraged me and kept me going. I know that these things are important in life and I miss them so much. At the moment I feel like life is starting all over again for me after 3 years of my undergraduate and finally making few genuine friends. Moving to Glasgow to a new setting and for Masters is quite challenging and sometimes I feel like I do not have that channel of support anymore; I do not like going to University counsellors for support; at least not done it yet and for that I miss my support channel (as listed above). Although, parents are more busy than ever and hardly do the long calls anymore, I am occupied with University and life as well that call does not fall right most times, I feel a bit lost but I am also starting to feel the sense of support from my church and few friends, which keeps me sane and grounded. I am proud and thankful to God for the completion of my BSc and for the University and my lecturer for celebrating my effort throughout the 3 years and how I have grown, as I made it to the University Newsletter. Click here to view. On the other hand, I should keep trying to find support system mainly with my lecturers by having a more open mind. I often feel like I do not know enough for this course as expected of me but after all they are always here to help. Although I am starting to understand that what makes it a maters degree is truly wider reading, problem solving and self discovery.
Future
I have never been so scared of what I could lose ever in my life until I started thinking about finishing my masters successfully and getting a job. I really do not know why I feel like this is the next step and if it does not happen I will be devastated but I soon realised that where I am now was once my future plan, something I imagined and prayed for and for that I feel grateful and hopeful that there is no other choice but growth and advancement in every aspect of my life. I plan to get a job as a Food technologist (New product development), mainly in a protein food meals or snacks company; bringing healthy food to the society. In the nearest future (not too far anymore), I intend to help my society more and do more for God; which basically means giving back to the world.
An act of kindness creates an endless ripple.
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