Semester one has been going at lightening speed. But it's almost stalled. My trusty laptop, my companion in all things uni for the last few years has stopped charging. It's inconvenient to say the least and has also come at a very stressful time because as per classic, all my deadlines are coming up soon.
Picture the scene. I'd noticed that over the last few days my laptop had been shutting off randomly but I'd put it down to the cold, I do live in Lapland after all. So I thought nothing of it. Whilst my laptop was shutting off intermittently, I also had something else to consider, besides my deadlines. An opportunity to work in the international office at the University had just opened up and I'd wanted to stretch myself. I'd noticed I was becoming a bit restless and I wanted another thing to occupy me.
The day my poor little laptop decided it didn't want to charge anymore was the last day I could apply, I'd spent a lot of time umming and ahhing over whether I should apply. I decided to go for it, applying wouldn't hurt, I might not even get the internship in the first place. Halfway through my application, my laptop shut down but as it had charged before I thought nothing of it and finished my application and left it to charge. When I came back to it a few hours later I found that my laptop hadn't charged at all. I was very confused and couldn't work out what was happening. I have no idea about IT, it's really not my thing. Katie and Lucy both came in to try and console me but I was quite distraught. I could only use my laptop whilst it was plugged in, if the cable came out it would turn off instantly. Not unsalvageable but, inconvenient none the less. I learnt to deal with it.
A few weeks later I got a reply about my application, I'd got an interview for the internship position the next day. After my interview I received an email that the position was mine. I was really happy about it. But there was a downside. Instead of studying next semester I'd be purely interning. Which would mean my Erasmus year would go through a big change. I'd be doing half study, half work placement and I needed to make the decision quickly. This had come just three weeks before I was going home for Christmas.
I wanted the internship or I wouldn't have applied, it was a good opportunity. It would keep me busy, give me more confidence in certain windows programmes and would help me get to know the inner workings of the uni better. But equally, I came to Lapland to study and I've recently handed in my learning agreement for the next semester. The modules I've picked are very interesting to me and I was excited to see what next semester would bring me and I wasn't sure I was ready to give that up. I emailed everyone I could think of who I knew would be able to give me advice. Firstly asking myself what the consequences would be for my degree qualification if I undertook an internship. After a lot of thought I decided to continue studying next semester. I think studying will do me good, the modules I've chosen next semester are going to be really helpful to broaden my education and I'm excited about it.