2020 reflection

​​​​​​​In this year, life as we know it has changed to an even more individualistic society. Technology is advancing and what most people do all day is simply staring at screens, perform service work, which results in big profits made, however, nothing tangible is produced. With the COVID-19 pandemic advancing and occasionally going out of control, even at the end of the year, as was expected for winter transmission rates, measures are strict again and many European countries find themselves in hard lockdowns.
Many people lost motivation due to imposed restrictions, however, this was not the case for me, where rather the opposite happened. Still being on the quest to find my real purpose, I enjoy studying my programme even more than last year and all the other knowledge I encounter in honours courses rounds up the picture perfectly, making it easy to wake up in the morning and freshly start another productive day. It can be tough, and my hours and days are often quite long, with not much else to do it fits perfectly in the current situation. The next semester will be even more busy with the new job I am starting besides all this. Excellent time planning will be needed to not lose focus on my main courses, all the honours contents in my upcoming broadening module, and of course perform well as a student assistant. I work best the busier I am, since I always find the most efficient way to execute tasks and realized recently how much time I actually spend on social media. Which, to be honest, can be classified as wasting time, while in the current situation so many people find themselves being addicted to the never ending scrolling and little dopamine highs you get from contents you like. Not every task in my courses is something I like, nevertheless, I think focussing even more on such will unleash a lot of potential. The job will enable me some additional money, I mainly want to save for future expenses. More than that, the student assistant position hopefully enables me to further assist the lecturers with their work, and I will certainly try to further get to know their responsibilities and express my interest in collaboration.
Like the previous years, 2020 was still a year full of experiences, more than one would expect from these circumstances. I still managed to travel, be outside in this very dry and beautiful spring, had a few nice parties, and met some interesting people on the way. In terms of introspective reflection, this time has grounded me even more than before, giving me some headspace to overthink decisions and motivations. By now, I am very certain that I chose a good study programme, which eventually will enable me to pursue my dreams. Becoming more affluent on the way, with knowledge as well as money, is hopefully part of this journey. Groningen does seem to be a very well planned out city and is surely a great place to learn about compact town planning. The more time I spend in this town, the more I like it, despite the difficult start with not so many likewise people. In Hamburg I feel at home, however, I am not sure if that will be my next destination. What will I do with my newly acquired planning and designing skills which were taught in English only? My thoughts still wander around Australia almost every day and to go back seems like a little dream to me every day I wake up. The possibilities are immense, Melbourne and Sydney being ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities, playing a part in decision making in such places as well as enjoying the high living standards these urban forms provide would be an ideal goal I want to work up to.