I remember that last year, after lockdown when she was about to move back to Exeter, she made a university bucket list of things she wanted to do in Exeter that included stuff like play tennis, go hiking, do more extracurricular activities at uni, etc, and she seemed quite excited about it.I think the longest she's stayed in Exeter continuously was about 3 weeks, but I don't think she was aiming for that - it was probably because her parents weren't available to pick her up or something like that.
She set herself a goal at the beginning of this academic year to 'not go home as often' and to 'appreciate living in Exeter', but then completely retconned that in favour of actually going home more often than previous years. Then she got defensive when even her fans started pointing out that she wasn't sticking to her original goals.
Is it possible she kinda underestimated the amount of work she'd have to do for her last year and the impact Covid still has on our life, and she's disappointed that she can't do these things she set out to do? Idk, she seemed so excited to be at Exeter and enjoy uni at the beginning of the year and now it's like she doesn't enjoy it anymore.
I think she started the academic year with expectations about her life in Exeter, possibly about her dissertation too, that did not materialize. Maybe her dissertation isn't working out like she hoped, she's having trouble deciding on a research question, or her advisor (if she already has one) isn't giving her the positive feedback and enthusiastic praise she craves. Maybe she doesn't have time to do those things like play tennis and join clubs at uni, or Blakeney can't or won't come along.
We all know Ruby is a perfectionist, things have to be the way she wants them to be or otherwise she doesn't bother, maybe she's overwhelmed because all of her expectations and grand plans for her last year in Exeter didn't come to fruition and she won't accept anything different.