My Daily Routine at Bellerbys

Posted by David, studying Engineering Foundation at Bellerbys Brighton

Aloha everyone!


I was a rather busy student back in Malaysia, being involved in various school activities.  Arriving here in this new environment simply seems like reconstructing my daily routine from scratch.  It really took quite a while for me to rustle up my courage and take part in activities either organised by Bellerbys or outside of the college.  I knew I had to do something during my leisure times to release my indefatigable energy.

Therefore, I have consistently been collecting those pieces of coloured notices listing out the weekly activities in Bellerbys, throughout the term.  I started attending yoga and fitness classes after the college hours.  And I must say that they really do make me sweat!  Apart from that, I go for guitar lessons on Fridays.  It was very considerate of them to organise two different guitar classes - beginners and intermediate for students of different levels of experience in the instrument.

There are so many other activities I would have loved to be involved in if not for the time restriction that I have.  For instance, the Debating Society, martial arts, violin, drumming, table tennis and the Poetry and Books Club.  What I anticipate the most is the dance club, which is going to be established soon.  I cannot wait for the first class!

Not only that, I have become a member of Fitness First (a ten minutes walk from the campus).  It was my first experience possessing a gym membership.  When I was given a tour of their facilities, I had to check and make sure that the equipments were safe enough for a clumsy user like myself.  Ever since watching Final Destination 3, I have never had a good impression of gyms.  (Watch the movie and you will know what I mean!)  Contrary to my beliefs, (or maybe it’s just Fitness First) going to the gym is actually safe and fun!  Not only the equipments have simple-to-follow instructions, the trainers there are very approachable, always more than glad to advise you on the right exercising method to prevent unnecessary injuries.

Nonetheless, what I am most fascinated about this membership is the group classes that they have offered, comprising of cardiovascular exercises, toning regimens, body balancing classes and lastly, DANCE classes!!!!  They organise Street/HipHop, Latin and Strictly Fit classes, where the dance genre would vary from time to time.  If only they have offered contemporary dance classes, this gym would have been perfect.  My personal favourite (besides the dance classes, of course) is the Spinning Classes.  We cycle for our lives during those sessions, pressing our feet against the pedal rapidly to synchronise our speed with the energetic upbeat music.  The pace of our rpm (revolution per minute), in other words, the speed of our feet’s movement is literally like rolling drumsticks.  I never thought that was possible until I actually did it myself.  I never knew the cycling methods could have been this versatile too.  A secret confession to make, I cannot cycle conventionally for nuts.  Thank goodness the gym ones are stable spinners.  Hence, I quote from Mr Bentham, just ‘throw yourself into deep water’.

Despite these self-indulgent ‘everything is good’ ramblings of mine, there is an initially negative aspect of my gym experience.  I would say that I come from a rather conservative country.  So, obviously, you could have imagined how stunned I was when I entered the gym toilet and all I see was exposed male body parts.  Culture shock really hit my brain at that instant.  I got used to it though, eventually.  It was sometimes not even about the awkwardness I felt, but the sheer intimidation from seeing their chiseled bodies.  Well, not all of them, but you get the idea.  The feeling of insecurity was soon channeled into a stronger sense of motivation to increase my fitness level and most importantly, my health.

Did I also tell you that the Fitness First in Brighton has a sauna and steam room?  Okay, enough of the gym, I have recently signed up to volunteer for this charity group called Moving Voices, but yet been able to assist them due to the clashing times with my classes.  I tried searching for other voluntary work too, especially charitable ones.  And I actually heard (vaguely) from my classmate that people can soon volunteer to contribute to the Olympics Games in 2012.  Will definitely post something about it if I have actually stumbled upon this once in a lifetime voluntary program.

Of course, aside from all these activities that I have been doing, my academic performance is still my top priority.  I limit myself to a maximum of three activities a day and study at night.  I firstly complete my homework, then proceed to recapping what I have learnt for the day, before mind-mapping everything during the weekend.  If I still have time, I would do some research about architecture to increase my depth of knowledge in the field.  Weekends are even better as I would be able to hang out with my friends.  I have to give credit to my personal diary designed with such an efficient layout for me to conveniently plan my daily routine.  In my opinion, this habit of scheduling your daily plans is extremely beneficial.  Do try it!

Stay tuned for more David!

Thank you once again for your time in reading this ‘little’ entry of mine.

Till we meet again!

Signing off!

Find out more about studying Engineering Foundation at Bellerbys Brighton.

Comments

[David Kam]

Hello Mr Stephen!
Thank you so much for such kind words.
I am really having fun in Brighton. In fact, I am really looking forward for tonight's Cirque du Soleil-themed MayBall. Would definitely give my account of the event soon in this blog.
Get ready for more of my entries! :) Currently having a splurge of topics I have been itching to write about.

Sincerely,
David

[Stephen Whitehead]

Hi David
Brilliantly written blog. Sounds like you are living life to the full and making the most of Bellerbys which is great to read.
Look forward to the next one.
Best regards
Stephen (Bellerbys Web Team)