Politics! And A Night Walk

It's day 321 of documenting 2025.
44 days to 2026!

Today ended with an unexpected twist. That's just what I want to start with.
What a way to start my first week as a course rep!

You'll probably be like,
"What's she talking about?
Okay, okay....
Let me spill the beans.
One word hint: Politics

It was after a normal morning and afternoon of lectures and I came back to the hostel...hungry and tired.
After refreshing myself and changing my clothes, I got a "reminder" from our departmental president that we were to meet today by 5pm.

I wasn't feeling up to it, and was about to decline when one of the members sponsored my transport.
I had no choice but to go.
The mindset was, "let's see how it goes".

I got there early, before the person who called for the meeting and instantly regretted it.
"Why do I always have to go early?"
I asked myself as I sat in the restaurant.
Yes! It was in a restaurant.

Later on, I met the person that sponsored me and we still had to wait a little while longer for the person who called the meeting.
You know when we later started?
By 5:30pm.

I just sat and listened as the "big boys and girls" talked.
They talked about elections, the other departments in the social science faculty and then something called, "alignment".
Occasionally, some of them asked my name and I also introduced myself as the 100 Level course rep.

Honestly, I felt so out-of-place.
I didn't even understand what was going on...but from the way they discussed, it seemed like they struggling with numbers.

And from my observation, it seems they don't have a chance in the faculty elections, but they're scrambling to see what they can salvage of the situation.
It's just what I think.
And there's also this mentality of the sunk cost fallacy.

The faculty contestant said something along the lines of,
"I have spent so much on this election. If I tell you how much I have spent, you would be surprised....I have even slimmed down because of this".
And I was like, "What's in this position that he's fighting for?"

Minutes and minutes later, when it seemed like the meeting had ended, I asked, "Are we done?" The guy next to me said, "we are done". I simply got up and left. Then I got back to the hostel and then called my brother out for a stroll.

We walked quite a long way....at night!
But we were accompanied by our friends...me with my friend and he with his. For what it was, I enjoyed the walk.

On the walk, which was a novel experience...I forgot.
I forgot that I was a content writer.
I forgot that I was a course rep.
I didn't even stare at my phone...just enjoyed the moment.

Somehow, it felt bad.
It felt like I had gone out of line, because I missed Monday Bible Study at the fellowship.
They say there's always a first time for everything....but this might be my last time of walking at night.

That was pretty much how today went. I'll share the highlights for today and then I'll share a few more thoughts.

365 Days With Self-discipline
📌 On Being the Creator of Your
Circumstances

"Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men."
Quote by Benjamin Disraeli

It would be nice to blame our circumstances for everything bad that happens in our lives.

Finally, there would be something else that is responsible for our deficiencies, inaction, lack of willpower, etc.

Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately), we’re the creators of the circumstances in which we find ourselves today.
While you can’t change where you were born, you can change where you live.

While you can’t change who your parents were, you can choose your teachers and mentors.
While you can’t change whether you were born blind, deaf, mute, or with a different physical disability, you can change how you think about it.

So many people accept their circumstances for what they are, instead of acknowledging that they always have some control over them — even if it’s just the ability to change how you think about them.

If you don’t like something about your circumstances, you can change them, accept them, or find power in them.

If you don’t like where you live, you can move to a different place.
If for some reason you can’t do that, you can accept where you live and focus on other aspects of your life there.

You can also find power in your environment and discover the hidden benefits of where you live (for example, a small town might not be great for job prospects, but your costs of living are lower).

Don’t make yourself a victim by believing that you’re a creature of circumstances or you might as well give up any hope for a better future.

Well, we create circumstances, not the other way around.
That's what I would say for now.
I can't really add anything else because it's actually self-explanatory.

More thoughts? Let's see 🤔
I had to address my classmates today.
My heart was beating fast as I called for their attention, but eventually it wasn't so hard. The assistant didn't address our classmates.

Tomorrow is another day, but I have lectures by 10am in the morning, so that's an opportunity for me to stay up late.
(Still trying to adjust to this new student lifestyle).
Let's see how it goes.
I hope I don't fall asleep in class 😐

I think that would be all for today's documentation.
Thanks for reading 🎀
You can always check out my former posts on the main website, Documenting 2025.

PS. There's a rumor going around the school about an upcoming strike. I haven't experienced one before but from what I hear, it's not good. I hope it's not true.

See you in the next post 💜