Hello! My name is Hannah, and I am an English and Psychology major going into my second year at Queen’s! My sweet little hometown is Guelph, Ontario. I love making yummy food, pretty prose, music, cotton candy clouded sunsets, and dancing in the kitchen. This is my second year writing for SASS, and I am so excited to chronicle the next few months at Queen’s with you!
A few random mundane facts about me (because mundane feels more accessible to me right now than fun): I watch a lot of old 2000s television while knitting because I am a homebody gramma at heart. I believe that Muji 0.38 black pens are the only ones to write with. I love plants but sometimes kill them. I am probably drinking coffee somewhere while painting my nails sparkly. I spent my summer working at a greenhouse, surrounded by plants and kind souls who increased my appreciation for growing things.
But more interesting? I’m coming into this next semester filled up and eager to expand my knowledge of literature and human psychology.
In the past, I’ve often been a perfectionistic procrastinator, which is pretty much the lethargic anxious combination that made me realize I had ADHD. Since coming to this realization, but especially throughout the first year, I began to expand how I learned and what I believed was the best way to learn. I tried almost every studying technique under the sun – bright cue cards, pretty handwritten notes Pinterest would be proud of, scribbly notes, typed-up notes on Google Docs.
But I found that I learned best when I just embraced the fact that I get to learn. Okay, sometimes people’s eyes roll when I say this, but as a multiracial woman of colour, it has become incredibly obvious to me how different my educational background could be—even in 2023. As someone who also wants to be an educator one day, I try (and sometimes fail, but I think that’s okay too) to remind myself that this entire postsecondary experience is something that I don’t want to take for granted as much.
This, I know will be difficult when I am swamped with stress and deadlines, a million papers to do, and thousands of theories to conceptualize and comprehend. However, it’s also something I want to keep tucked away in the back of my mind.
This semester, I am most excited to use Notion to untangle all of the mental chaos I experience when trying to sort through my classes. I’m excited to listen to mellow jazz and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) while I sip tea and organize my notes.
I will be using the space I am allowed to take up here in SASS’ virtual space to chronicle all of the ways I am learning to learn, and I hope to share with you the things I find useful—and useless.
I hope you find this space to be warm and encouraging. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I hope it’s a place that genuinely reminds you that we’re all a little bit clueless and humbly trying to figure out this whole life and school thing together.
Cheers! Talk to you next month!
Hannah (she/her)
Double Major in English & Psychology