In the past months, quite a few people have messaged me with the question about how I manage to find time for blogging and my Medical degree. I thought this would be an interesting topic to touch upon, hence I decided to write a short post talking about how all of this came about and how I have managed to make it work so far.
I think that it would be useful to start from the beginning. For years I have always loved the creative world and whether it was playing piano, art lessons, acting workshops or studying film - I was always exposed to the creative world in some way. Nonetheless, academic subjects were always in the equation and as a person who loved both, I always had to balance my life appropriately in order to fit all of my interests. At 18, choosing one degree upon which I can focus on was definitely a huge challenge - I am not really a person who likes narrowing my options and after completing IB, I felt they opened up even more instead of narrowing. This was one of the reasons why I chose the IB over the traditional A- Level Exams. During the IB course I instantly fell in love with Philosophy and the nature of arguments hence I proceeded to embark upon a BA in Philosophy in Leuvne, Belgium. Leuven was an amazing place to study at with its philosophical and theological roots stretching back to hundred of years! However after a year of studying there I went through a complete career change and ended up coming back to my homeland to study Medicine. That didn't necessary mean this was the only career choice I wanted to focus on but I was definitely fascinated by the workings of the human body and wanted to know more.
I'll be honest - I never was (& never will be) the sort of person who knows from the beginning "I am going to be a surgeon." or "I am going to be a GP." In a way I do and don't envy the people that pre-empt their careers like that. It's much more reassuring to know your path but I genuinely love risk and the flexibility given by not setting a rigid boundary gives me the idea of freedom that I really appreciate in life. Until this day I am still not 100% sure what is my next step but that's what makes it exciting!
My first 3 years of Med School were absolutely manic - I was super busy and my days were filled with classes that lasted all day long. My year was the first year which had a changed program - a lot of subjects from 5&6th year were moved down in order to make my program into a 5 year program. It was all very jam packed. As you can imagine - I hardly had time to eat and lost loads of weight from subconscious stress that came out of wanting to meet deadlines, pass exams without retakes and the want to still sustain a social life. I have always been very ambitious and have strived for the best whenever I could. My perfectionistic nature which is a blessing and a curse in one, didn't always help - I put a lot of extra strain on myself that wasn't exactly necessary. Holidays were key and the fact that I planned to use them on tropical travel, definitely gave me a lot of motivation hence I really pushed myself in subjects such as Anatomy, Biochemistry and other basic sciences that were intense in the first years. Ever since I was a little girl, living by the ocean and learning to surf has been my long dream and I didn't want my career choice to compromise that. I wanted to make it all work - and I did. I made a lot of memorable trips in the past years across various continents, collecting wonderful experiences and meeting great people. I have always been good with time management between my studies and travel - that definitely helped!
In my free time (which was very scarce) I started blogging, however I felt like it never really got anywhere. The minute I started a fashion blog, I begun to be interested in cooking and it was hard to focus upon one theme which seemed to be a trend with bloggers at that time. I would say that the "on and off" blogging was definitely fundamental in finding "my space" in the blogosphere as well as on Instagram. However, it wasn't until the fourth year of Med School that I finally found out what I would like to focus on when posting - and it turned out to be everything. I realised that showing a fraction of my personality just wasn't me and this is how CHAT BLANC came about to exist. My fourth year was severely calmer than the early years. With basic sciences out the way and Pharmacology as well as Pathomorphology passed the stress level came back to normal and I finally had something I had very little of before - time. Blogging along with travelling and exercise became my hobby and it was a way to express myself in a creative way - something not quite easily done in academic Medicine. Furthermore, time management now was less of a challenge. With more clinical subjects - I could finally use the academic knowledge I gained and use in it clinical scenarios across various departments in the hospital without it eating too much into my time outside of the hospital.
After being contacted by various brands, I begun collaborating on occasional projects. This made my motivation towards blogging grow and really made me feel that my work was appreciated - it felt amazing! What more, it was very fulfilling especially because I was an absolute newbie in the industry. I got really lucky because my first collaboration was with Billabong - one of my favourite brands that I continue to work with until this day.
Concluding, it is possible to do many things and not just one - you just need to want to do it. I know, that's what everyone says - but it's hella true. Time management is key but the truth is you'll make it work if you can and are willing to do so. I guess that in my case my creative background was something that helped me find motivation and time, even when there was very little of it. I cannot speak for all Medical Students because I know that the curricula and schedules look completely different from country to country. It could be the case that your workload is evenly spread throughout the 6 years making it a little tricky to find time in the end of your studies (like me) - especially if blogging is not your primary interest. However saying that, I have seen quite a few students and practicing physicians from around the world who are bloggers. I guess where there is a will there're a will hey?!
Thanks for reading,
Maria x
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