A typical week at the RAU for a commuting student
In my third year studying International Business Management. I have three 3-hour long lectures a week. But this does not mean I have a lot of free time!
By Georgia Wakeley
Monday: Today I have a lecture on Consumer Behaviour from 2:30pm until 5:30pm. I usually wake up around 8am. My breakfast usually consists of porridge or leftover soup. I spend the morning reading over the lecture notes so that I can pay better attention during the lecture, and any questions I have may either be answered as our lecturer talks or I can ask them at the end. If I have any time left over in the morning I will carry on doing some coursework for this subject. My commute takes me about half an hour, so I leave just before 2pm. When my lecture finishes at 5:30, I go home, and due to living with my parents, dinner is usually ready at 6pm. I spend the evening doing research for my dissertation, transcripting interviews, doing coursework or writing up lecture notes.
Tuesday: I leave a few minutes before 8:30am - this way I can miss the traffic caused by the coaches trying to pull into the college across the road. My 9am-12pm lecture is on International Business, and we have an external lecturer. He doesn’t use presentations, but he is very engaging, and his lecture turns into a class-wide discussion and debate. Depending on what I have left to do, I will either spend a few hours in the library doing work and reading past dissertations or go home and work at my desk.
Wednesday: Wednesday’s can vary week by week. Due to being a student ambassador, Open Days usually take place on Wednesdays, so I either spend these days working as a SA from 9am-4pm, or if there is no work I get some coursework and research done.
You may have noticed by this point I don’t do a lot of exercise! This is because I had an accident involving my knee during my second year, which meant for a long time I couldn’t stand, walk or bend it. I am now much better after having an operation and will start physio soon. In my second year I belonged to the Boat Club, Polo Club and Ladies Rugby (where I had the accident!). During my first year I was a bit of a gym-freak and spent up to two hours a day exercising and swimming at the gym. This is where I want to get back to!
Thursday: Today I have a lecture from 10am-1pm in Marketing, but I usually meet my classmates for a group meeting at 9am to talk about what we are doing and who should do what. The lecture starts at 10am, and we have a seminar from 12pm-1pm. Like Tuesday afternoon, I may spend a few hours in the library if I need to get something done. This is the last day of hard working for me as I burn out quite fast, so I will finish off any research and work tonight.
Friday: is a free day! I get up leisurely and have something nicer to eat for breakfast such as bacon or eggs. This is usually the type of day where I will visit one of my friends. In the summer, we usually go swimming together, have pizza and play board games or hang out and get dinner together. As I am writing this, this Friday I will get the train to Bristol to meet my friend. If the evening is quiet, I will retreat to my room again to do some more coursework.
Saturday and Sunday: Like Wednesday, sometimes there are Open Days, so I try to work these days. Otherwise, Saturday and Sunday are my family’s entertaining days, where we host other family members or guests for lunch/dinner or events as we don’t do these during the week. In warmer weather I will spend a lot of time outside, and play polo on Sundays (I haven’t been able to do this for a while as last time I rode I fell off and cracked a rib!), and spend Saturday and Sunday evening watching TV with my family and doing my embroidery. I may make a soup on Sunday for the week ahead.
I hope a few people take comfort from this blog that university doesn’t have to be all about who stays out the longest and who has the most debt and struggles to pay for their food shopping. Third year will be the quietest year for most students as they knuckle-down and do their dissertations.