Written by Ozcan Inanli, MA Education, Year 1 Student

Before I begin to share my resilience journey, I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Having studied in four different countries and adapted to different environments and cultures, resilience has taken me years to master, particularly when faced with unexpected setbacks. Working professionally in different cultures to my own has been insightful. Now, it feels highly rewarding to help others. I do struggle at times, but I’m much more grounded and the results are wonderful to see. There is no shortcut to becoming resilient, rather time is a great healer as they say. You have to do the work and willing to grow both personally and professionally in order to see tangible results. Balancing deadlines with work, study, leisure time, and other commitments, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. It is easy to be overconsumed with so much going on, nonetheless, when things do not go quite the way we want them to go, we often feel lost and struggle to reach out. I hope that sharing my journey will help to ease some of the struggles you’re facing and get you onto the right path.

Resilience is an ongoing skill to master which can feel difficult when our minds are incredibly busy. I hear many people say: “I can’t do it” “It’s too much effort” “nobody understands”. These are all thoughts that I can fully relate to and understand the power they have when you’re feeling low, which takes a toll on our mental health. I’m so glad that we have so much support out there and that mental health is becoming more recognised and understood; this is so positive to see! What I’ve learnt is that paying attention to our thoughts is the first step to recovery. We can choose to engage with them or sit with them and let them pass in their own time. That is to say, how we respond to them decides how much power and energy they have on us. Journalling and meditation are two strategies I recommend for clearing your mind.  

Encountering setbacks allow us to appreciate all the positives and reflect on our journey. It strives us to do better and perhaps take a different direction if it didn’t quite go the way we wanted it to. This strongly links to the growth vs fixed mindset which allows us to decide how we move forward. It is up to us to develop  our resilience and only this can be done if you make the decision to become more aware of the present moment, being extra kind to yourself and self-reflecting. Other times, reaching out to your support network whether that be friends, family members or people you trust to share what is bothering you helps to talk about what is happening, and clarity will follow even if not straight away. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, for instance, changing courses, moving location or quitting your job, but I am a great believer that things happen for a reason and that bigger and better things are coming your way.

Building up resilience takes time; it will not be a five minute job. However, you are the CEO of your life! You decide how to live the life that you want, you are in control of your actions and how you want things to improve. It is okay to have bad days. It is okay to cry. It is okay to feel rubbish. BUT….you can’t stay in this place forever and need to take some kind of action to feel better. Ask yourself, what can I do right now to make myself feel a bit better? Let’s say you have an assignment coming up requiring 2,000 words to be written for two weeks utilising a wide range of academic sources, how would you approach this? Firstly, booking with the teaching and learning team for 1-to-1 academic library support whether online or in-person. By taking this first step, you have already made progress, even if it’s a 30-minute appointment. You will have gained a lot from it and feel clearer in where you’re heading next taking one step closer towards handing in your assessment.

I hope that my blog has provided some comfort and support into knowing that you are not alone and there is plenty of support out there. Remember, good things come to those who wait, and the minute you take action, even just a small step, you are already in the right direction. Also, when you encounter a setback, it will pass, and months or years later down the line, you will begin to see things in a different light… I wish you all the best! 😊

For help, advice and resources whilst studying at NTU, take a look at the following for sources of support.
Support from NTU
Silvercloud: SilverCloud is our online system designed to help with a range of mental health issues.
HealthyNTU: Advice, tools and activities for your wellbeing
NTSU Information and Advice service
Nottinghamshire Talking Therapies: Support for your Mental Health in Nottingham
Student Minds 10 Keys to happiness
Mind
Papyrus