teresaambrosio

A day at St Margaret’s Bay

My staycation is coming to an end and this is the last weekend on holiday. When I booked my holiday last month, I didn’t know this was going to be the hottest week of the year. Temperatures reached up to 36 C in some places like London, for example. Hello, climate changes!

The life of your dream doesn’t cost a fortune

One of my strongest assets is that I am very good at managing my money. When I was small, my parents didn’t have a stable job and we didn’t have the luxury of buying many things. I used to complain about this, but with age and maturity, I got to learn that it was a different experience and definitely taught me how to be conscious with my money and appreciate everything I have. Finances for students, parents or if you are thinking of going self-employed is a tough topic because every penny counts to make it to the end of the month.

Enjoying my staycation

I think we pretty much established that 2020 was going to be the year of change and unexpected events. For the first time in 30 years, I won’t spend my summer holiday with my family in Italy and for the first time in 10 years, my summer holidays will be only for me. I don’t have to worry about studying for exams, writing thesis, PhD bullshit, all this time off is for me, not for science.

Creating a new life in Kent

When I moved to Kent to start my job, I didn’t remotely think that my life would turn up like this. After my PhD, spending time doing science at evenings, weekends, Christmas, Easter and bank holidays, I was looking forward to starting a new life with a real job, real money and loads of more time to spend for myself. I moved down here on March the 7th and lockdown started on March the 23th. I didn’t even the chance to waste the money I got on my first paycheck because everything was already shut down.

How I manage my depression in time of uncertainty

The other day I was talking to my dad and told him “I feel like I didn’t achieve anything over the last 4 months!” and he answered “Stop talking bullshit! You kept your job, paid bills and rent on your own, this is a lot!” He was right. It was a lot and I didn’t even realise it.

The life of your dream means taking the hardest decisions.

The last 6 months have been so intense and dense of events that it feels like it’s been 6 years already. Since my last blog article, a lot of things have changed. First of all, I am no longer in my 20s. On Jun the 8th, I turned 30 years old! I couldn’t do any celebration because we were still in lockdown but I didn’t mind that much. I celebrate my life every day so I don’t have to wait for a special day to do special things. I work and live in awesome locations by the beach and the quality of my life has improved so much that I don’t even feel like I need to go to Italy on holiday this summer.

Coming out from the pandemic with a new mindset

Usual appointment at the end of the month by making an update of the things that change and how I update my mindset every month. I didn’t write anything at the end of April because I didn’t feel like there was much to say considering the severity of the global pandemic. So, this is a long post, sit back, relax and enjoy!

The moment to finish my PhD is now!

Long time, no talk about PhD. The truth is that this thesis has been a hell of a journey. Many people sit down a few months before their deadline and get it done at once, short and painful. For me it has been a lot different. I have been writing bits and pieces for the last 4 years.

I feel like I need to quit Instagram to figure out who I am

It’s been a very strange time for me. A lot has happened in the last two months, including moving to a new city, starting a new job and coping with a global pandemic. Here in Europe, we had a severe lockdown where everything was closed down apart from food shopping and pharmacies. We were allowed to go out only for necessities and 1 hour a day to exercise in isolation. I have been working on my mental health for more than 2 years and the pandemic + isolation did not help. Continue reading “I feel like I need to quit Instagram to figure out who I am”

How to manage your social media presence as a scientist.

I started my blog about 3 years ago, different aim, different topic, different stage of my life, different setting. I was in the middle of my PhD completely isolated and disconnected from my circle of people and I didn’t fit the idea of what an academic is supposed to do, look like or behave. I started the Instagram page later on because it was a good outlet to advertise my blog and promote myself. I wasn’t the only one doing this, loads of other PhD students around the world were using Instagram for personal branding and they started getting some popularity. I tagged along and joined the party.

Continue reading “How to manage your social media presence as a scientist.”