I come to you writing this blog in utter disbelief that we are already entering January 2017; my journey into midwifery is flying by and the ever more daunting date of qualifying is drawing closer. As part of my degree, I am actively encouraged to reflect on my experiences on an almost daily basis and for this blog I find myself reflecting on the last year and how much closer I am to becoming a qualified midwife. Suddenly and quite alarmingly I am nearly half way through and the panic of how quickly time appears to be passing has forced me to create some new year’s resolutions in the hope that this will help me to feel like I’ve got more of a grip on my life. So I’ve decided to share these with you- let’s hope I am more successful than usual at making these changes to my already hectic life!

1. Keep up with the cycling

Since moving out of university accommodation and into a house in north London, I decided, in an attempt to save some money and get fitter, I would purchase a bike as my main form of transport. At the time, it seemed like an excellent idea but I had no idea how much more complicated cycling in London is than just purely getting on a bike and pedaling off. Firstly, I had to buy a sturdy chain lock (the rate of bicycle theft in London is considerably higher than that of my little hometown up north) and after a few very wet trips, some mud guards for both wheels. Then there was the small problem of my serious lack of fitness. Any of you that drive and get road rage towards all us people on our bikes please spare a thought for just how much effort goes in to pushing the pedals at a speed fast enough to keep up with the cars around us. For months now I have been up and down London on my trusted bike, going to work and university, traveling to and from the hospital for my shifts and even conducting community home visits with my midwife (very “call the midwife”, I know!) however as the air is getting colder and the roads are getting icier and much busier it is getting harder and harder to get on the bike every morning. And so, that is why keeping up with the cycling is top of my list of new year’s resolutions.

2. Make more time for family and friends.

Much easier said than done I’m afraid. The life of a student midwife can be a very lonely one at times because if you’re not careful, the workload can take over and then inevitably some things must suffer. I have the pleasure of living with some of the greatest girls in the world, but with them being on a parallel degree in child nursing, when we are on placement together we can go days without even so much as a conversation. As for my family, they all live up north where I’m from so it can be difficult to find an available few days off when the trains are cheap enough for me to go home and visit them, and even when I do get a few days off, I can be so exhausted the last thing I want to do is get on a train for 3 hours, but I guess I can use this time to work, as trust me, the opportunities are infrequent and must be taken advantage of whenever possible. Whatever excuse I find, the lack of normal human contact can make me go crazy so this year I really want to be more organized and prioritise spending time with friends or traveling home to see my family over sleep.

3. Stop biting my fingernails.

One I put on my list every year and up until this point have always been unsuccessful on. The main reason for this is that biting my nails is my natural response to almost any emotion; when I’m hungry, when I’m tired, when I’m nervous or excited, when I’m feeling ill, when I’ feeling well, when I’m bored, distracted, daydreaming or essentially any other emotion that passes through me. Not particularly relevant to midwifery, but I can’t make a new year’s resolution list without this self-improvement. But writing this list is the easy part I acknowledge and whether I can live up to these expectations is another blog post or two all together!