Student blogs

Hi everyone! The new semester (my 2nd semester in the Toxicology Master’s) started last week and I wanted to use that occasion for setting myself some study-related goals or “resolutions”. In today’s blog post, I’ll share them with you, and if you’re also a student, I’m sure you will relate to at least some of them. And by the way: have a look at my takeaways from semester 1 in the Toxicology Master’s, if you’re interested.

Define my time

I want to be more clear to myself and always know the answer to this question: Is it study time, free-time or chore time now? (And there are even more labels if you start thinking about it). The reason for this is that it sometimes just goes wrong. I’m sure you know the feeling of sitting down at the desk but not really ending up studying. Or, sometimes it even happens the other way around and you plan free-time activities but there is an assignment in the back of your mind the whole time. That’s why I decided to practice becoming better at defining my time: If I’m in a productive session, I don’t want to let myself get distracted, and if I’m spending free time, I don’t want to think of anything else.

Be more on time

Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually almost never late. But I’m the type of student that arrives at exactly 8:59 to a lecture that starts at 9. While I usually label this as “efficiency”, it, to be honest, is just a bit risky. Especially now that there is snow on most streets of Stockholm, the way to school doesn’t always go as smoothly as planned and I should really allocate more time. You never know what happens on the way. That’s why this winter (or at least as long as there’s snow), I will leave earlier in the mornings. I want to to make sure I arrive early enough to have time to take off all my winter-outdoor-clothing-layers before the lecture starts.

Enjoy more

Whenever someone asks me what I’m doing and I tell them I study toxicology, it makes me happy to talk about it! I love my studies and feel like all the small choices in my life that led me here all really make sense now. But while I in the beginning actively enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to study Toxicology at KI, this over time somehow got overshadowed by the rush of daily life. I was so focused on exams, assignments and other responsibilities, that I barely took moments to look back and appreciate where I am. That’s why I want to get that excitement back and remind myself more often of how grateful I am for being able to do something I’ve wanted this much.

And whatever else comes up

Obviously, new ideas (or needs of improvement) can always come. I’ll just be open and see what new insights the spring semester of 2026 will bring me. Out of the things I listed today, my favourite item is to define my time – I’m pretty sure that keeping stricter boundaries between study- and free time has never harmed anyone. Do you have things you want to focus on in the coming weeks, months, year?