Happy Near Year and welcome back to Mun for the winter semester!
I hope that the winter holidays were as much of a nice break for all of you as it was for me. As much as the holidays are a time to kick back, binge-watch Christmas movies, and catch up on all those Netflix shows you’ve been meaning to watch, it always turns into a busy time of the year for me. Between all my friends coming home for the holidays and my large family, there wasn’t a lazy night in sight. On the days that I planned on having a quiet night at home with the boyfriend, something always seemed to come up, whether it was a board game night with friends, a birthday dinner downtown, or a last-minute family gathering. Over the holidays I got to see friends that I haven’t seen since last Christmas! This year I held a huge New Year’s Eve party. It was the perfect time to get everyone together, and it turned into quite a large gathering. Friends, parents, and family friends all showed up during the night to ring in the New Year together. It was a great night with even greater company, but now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get back into the swing of things.
This semester, I have my Master’s seminar, which is a giant presentation I have to give to the chemistry department on my research before I complete my thesis. It’s my first day back at Mun today, and I’m already shaking in my boots just thinking about it. There are lots of tricks that people use to get over their fear of speaking. The classic is to picture everyone in their underwear, but I never liked that one. During a presentation, my brain is already going a mile a minute trying to make sure I say everything right and do it as I practiced, that thinking about people in their underwear is way too much work. What helps me during a presentation, especially for something like a department seminar such as this, is to think about how much your audience really knows on your subject. In my case, it is on a topic that I have been studying and doing experimental research in for almost two years. While everyone in my audience will have a great chemistry background, chances are that I know a whole lot more about my research than anyone else does. If you make a small mistake, most people won’t even notice. In general, you know a lot more about your presentation than anyone else and thinking about this helps me calm my nerves. I still get the jitters and feel slightly nervous, but if you try to think confidently and project an outward appearance of confidence, it can also help make your presentation better. I also find that knowing your presentation very well can help immensely. When I know what I want to say, when to advance the slides, and when all the animations happen, it helps me feel less nervous. I have yet to find a way to be 100% relaxed before giving a presentation, but once I get through those first few slides, my brain goes on auto-pilot since I know the material so well. It helps me appear more confident when I talk, as well as help me feel confident.
Over the semester, I also have to start seriously writing my thesis. I’ve been picking at the experimental sections for a while now, and put some work into my introductory chapter, but I still have so much to do. Looking ahead at all the work that needs to be done can be scary and even anxiety inducing, but I’m trying to stay positive and take it one day at a time. I still have a lot of work to do in the lab, so it will be nice to have something to do that can break up my days of writing. Hopefully by my next blog post, I’ll have a good chunk of my thesis written, and all my experiments will go well! Until then, have a great winter semester, and try to stay positive despite the cold winter weather and tons of snow!