A Week in the Life - SOAS University of London

SOAS

Official Rep

Hear from our students about how they spend a week at SOAS :hello:

Reply 1

SOAS Official Student Rep One

Official Rep

Week in a life: First-Year Law Student

Monday

- No scheduled lessons.
- I spend the day preparing for lectures and tutorials for the commencing week.

Tuesday

- Today’s lecture was Property and Contract Law.
- Both lasted for 2 hours and were spaced out.
- Before the lectures, I formatted lecture slides to help with notetaking.
- I also read a summary of the topic, so I have an overall understanding beforehand.

Wednesday

- Tutorial day!
- This is where I have most of my smaller group classes, 3 in fact!
- I also have a Criminal law lecture in the morning which lasts for 2 hours.
- After my lecture, I have back-to-back Criminal and Contract law tutorials (which can be intense, but the debates and discussions in class usually simulate you!)
- After taking a lunch break, I attend my final tutorial of the day: Public law.

Thursday:

- I usually spent the morning consolidating /recapping any parts following yesterday's series of tutorials.
- I also go to the gym and have a swimming session during the afternoon.
- Late afternoon, I have a Public law lecture and complete pre-lecture prep.

Friday

- The WEEKEND IS IN SIGHT!
- I have an early morning, with the final tutorial of the week: Property law
- I spent the rest of the morning doing lecture consolidation notes and pre-readings required for the following week.
- I also start preparing for the next week’s set of tutorials.
- Most importantly, I block the evening off and enjoy my weekly family movie night.

- H

School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Reply 2

SOAS Official Student Rep One

Official Rep

Week in the life: part time (2-year) Social Anthropology student

Monday
No lessons, but I run a society in the evening on campus and most days that I'm on campus I try to get in early. So I might go to the UCL gym (SOAS students have discounted access to it) and then the students union to prep for the meeting and do some readings for the week ahead.

Tuesday
I try to get onto campus early and my train ride is about 40 minutes. On the train I try to do some readings or crochet or both. At 2pm I have a 1 hour lecture for my diaspora module. My professor has office hours right after that, so if I have questions about the course I might book in to talk to them. After I'll go to the gym and I'm also trying to do one new thing every day that I'm on campus so after that I might take a walk somewhere nearby, or go to a café that I've not tried before. Next week the London Short film festival is on and I'm planning to go to that.

Wednesday
Today I have 3 hours of lectures and tutorials in a row. After that I'll grab lunch from the union if I didn't bring anything from home. Then I head over to Senate house library to recap the day. In the evening the convener of the module hosts a migration/diaspora film screening which is always really interesting and a great chance to put the theory we've learnt into context. If I'm not too tired I'll head to the gym again.

Thursday
No, lessons

Friday
No lessons

On the day's where I do not have lessons I'm normally working, doing readings and pursuing whatever passions I'm interested in at the time.

- Monica, MA Social Anthropology

Reply 3

SOAS Official Student Rep Two

Official Rep

Week in the life: Final-Year Accounting and Finance student

Monday
I have an Audit and Assurance lecture, but it's at 3-5pm, so I try to spend the morning, in the library, going through the lecture slides for all my upcoming classes, as the slides are uploaded early. Afterwards, I attend SOAS and UCL ISOC netball and then head home.

Tuesday
I start my day off with a Taxation tutorial at 10am, followed by a Taxation lecture as soon as the class finishes. Once the lecture finishes at 1pm, I grab lunch with a friend either from the SOAS refectory or Bloomsbury square. I return to campus for my 3pm Audit and Assurance tutorial class and then spend the evening tutoring.

Wednesday
No classes

Thursday
No classes

Friday
My day begins with a 9am Forensic Accounting lecture, followed by a 1pm Forensic Accounting tutorial. I try to spend the 2 hours in between reviewing the work with my friend, whilst we enjoy our lunch. Afterwards, I spend the afternoon, as a student ambassador, giving campus tours to prospective students and then end my day with a family games/movie night!

On the days where I do not have lessons I'm normally working at my part-time job, attempting to do my dissertation, reading for pleasure or doing other activities that I enjoy!

- K

Reply 4

SOAS Student Rep

Official Rep

A day in the life - Final Year Arabic and International Relations Student
Tuesdays

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9-11am Arabic Lecture

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11-12 Catch up with friends usually get hot chocolate at Noxy Brothers

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12-1pm Arabic Seminar

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1-3pm Library preparing for my lectures and doing my readings for the week

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3-5pm Law Lecture

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5-6pm Go on a walk around TCR and Bloomsbury, get some food

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6-7pm IR Lecture

Reply 5

SOAS Student Rep

Official Rep

A Week in the Life as a SOAS Student
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Course: MA Iranian Studies and Intensive Persian

Year of Study: Second Year

Monday: Monday starts a bit late for me. I stay in the London House at Mecklenburg Square which is about ten minutes-walk from the SOAS campus. So, I tend to spend the morning and early noon with a lovely breakfast and trying to prepare my reading for Phonology class.

This year, I am auditing a couple of modules from the linguistics department. At SOAS, you have this brilliant opportunity to audit classes without taking them for credits. So, 3-5 pm I have Intro to Language with Dr Aicha Belkadi; and 5-6 pm, I have Phonology with Dr Lidia Wojtczak. After that, at about ten past six, I go to my Latin reading group at the Gordon Square, which lasts for two hours and often, we finish the day at a pub. Latin still keeps me attached to my Undergraduate degree in English and Classics, so, it is one of my joys.

The very central location of SOAS campus and other educational institutions in Bloomsbury allow you to pursue your interests outside your immediate degree as well, and you can bring new insights and approaches to your specific field of study.
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Tuesday:*Tuesdays are very laid back for me as I have only one class very early in the morning. I have Persian from 9 to 11 am with Shabnam Mirafzali. We tend to read and listen to news article or excerpts from novels (We are just starting Daei Jan Napoleon ‘My Uncle Napoleon’), have conversations, deliver presentations- all in Persian!

After that, I go for a lunch, either back to my place or to one of the many lovely cafes in the locality, especially Brunswick Square and the Lamb’s Conduit Street, the one inside the British Museum is also a lovely haunt. There is also lovely patisserie right behind the Russell Square Underground station but that one I usually reserve for Thursday after Classical Persian Poetry with Narguess Farzad.

I spend the rest of the day in either the SOAS library or Senate House, working on my other projects. Sometimes, I go with friends to the museums and exhibitions nearby, there are always a plenty in Bloomsbury!
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Wednesday:*I start early on Wednesdays and they are bit hectic with two different languages on the same day. I have Prakrit at 9-11 am with Professor Clifford Wright. We study grammar, coins inscriptions, inscriptions on Ashokan pillars and Jain religious texts and stories.

We aim to finish a couple of minutes early as I usually to run from the Phillips Building to Paul Webley Wing at the Senate House for my Persian 3 class from 11-1 pm with Narguess Farzad. However, thankfully, most lectures start five minutes after the start time to accommodate the students who are just moving from class to another. With Narguess, we aim to study an article or story, and have conversations in Persian, and then homework is assigned where we need to write a paragraph or a story or translate a text from either English to Persian or Persian to English. *
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Thursday:*Thursdays are again very hectic for me. But since I do not have classes on Friday, the three-day weekend is in sight! Thursdays, again, I start at 9 am with Narguess Farzad, reading Classical Persian Poetry. Every week, we pick up a poet and read their poetry out loud in the class, sometimes accompanied by beautiful renditions with musical instruments by masters of this form like Homayun Shajarian. This hour symposium is one of most favourite times at SOAS. We have recently been reading Ferdowsi, Khayyam, Rumi and Nizami! What a great joy it is to read the old masters of the art.
We finish at twelve and then head out to get a quick lunch nearby. I often go out to see some art galleries, usually Brunei Gallery at SOAS which have a new exhibition every month or the permanent collections at the British Museum which is barely two minutes-walk from SOAS main Campus.

At 3 pm, I have my Pahlavi language (Middle Persian) class. And the next two hours are spent playing puzzles with the very amusing script that is Book Pahlavi!
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Final Word: When I don’t have classes, I try to explore the city of London as much as I can; it is a very beautiful place to live in with every wall, every street, every corner offering an amazing piece of history that goes back thousands of years, from Roman walls to enclosed gardens, the history is everywhere.

In my free time, I also work for my part-time job at SOAS as a student ambassador which is some of my favourite time. It allows me to work around my university schedule and the work is usually very enjoyable. It often involves giving campus tours, helping out with events that are being organised at SOAS, chatting with prospective students, and other very fun stuff.

I also have a love for visiting art galleries and museums very frequently, and I love to find the new, the old and the hidden ones in the city! And London never disappoints.
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-A
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