|
|
|
A Week in the Life of a Durham student
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Durham University > A Week in the Life of a Durham student
OK so normally finalists have far fewer hours than previously, but since not many Linguists do dissertations expect about 12-14 hours a week (depending on seminars etc). I'll go through my week as it has been this year. Monday: 8am - breakfast in college, work, 12pm - Italian oral class, lunch in college, work, 3.15pm (fortnightly) Renaissance Italy seminar, back to college, work, dinner, work/choir for 2 hours Tuesday: 8am - breakfast then free all day. I normally do work for most of the day and i will go for a wander in town and get provisions. Every other week I have a Dante seminar at 2.15. I will generally do any reading on a Tuesday as I can sit for long periods, and i find that more conducive to reading. Wednesday: 8am - breakie then 9am Renaissance Italy lecture, then every fortnight 11am Writing and Criminality seminar. Lunch in college then the afternoon free for work/excercise. I might go to the gym or for a walk and do some work, like catch up with little grammar homeworks and things. Evening - orchestra for 2 hours and possible bar trip after. Thursday: 8am- breakie then 9am Dante Lecture, 12pm French oral, then lunch then work for a few hours - then I have a 4.15 and 5.15 Romance of the Grail classes. Sometimes on a Thursday I go to formal which starts at 7pm sharp. If I go to formal I'll go to the bar after as well Friday: 8am start again, then 11 and 12 o clocks followed by lunch and a 2.15 grammar seminar, after which I might go to the pub with mates until dinner and play cards or if I have a lot of work on the time will be spent working or going up to the library. Evening teds to be more relaxed - film with friends, trip to a bar or something...nobody works on Friday nights Saturday: LIE IN! Followed by workity work and prob a stroll. Sunday: ANOTHER LIE IN! I never eat in college on Sundays because I hate the food they serve, so I go to M&S for a salad or a sandwich or something, else i meet up with people and go to a cafe or something. Sometimes there are orchestra rehearsals on Sunday afternoons as well. When I say work here that can relate to any number of things: homeworks (I normally have stuff for both oral classes and both grammar classes - normally get TONNES of stuff for French grammar), and then there's always seminar prep and reading to be done, plus generally reading all my core texts and then essays on top of that. Plus organisational/admin stuff for orchestra takes up a lot of my time as well. That's about it!
I'll use a typical week from last term as my timetable is quite different this term. Monday: 8am up, shower, breakfast 9-11am cell biology (optional module) lectures 11-1pm chemistry lectures 1-2.15pm Lunch, generally packed lunch eaten sitting in the chemistry cafe with my chemistry friends 2.15-5.15pm Labs, sometimes finish early, depending on what experiment I’m doing/ how fast I work. 5.15-6.15 Chemistry lecture (up cardiac hill x.x) Back to college, small amount of work/you tube 8.00 Head off to swimming down at Durham city baths 10.00 Back at college, dinner, chill and bed Tuesday Lie in!! 11.00 (ish...) up, breakfast, and shower 1.15 Chemistry tutorial Back to college, work, maybe a run and some stretching Out to studio Wednesday 8.00 Up 9.00-11.00 Chemistry lectures 11.00-1.00 work in the library 1.30 head off to DSU to meet with Dugtc and head off to Spennymore gym 4.00 back at college, hockey fitness if it's on 6.00 ish Dinner Chill out, work etc. Thursday 9-11 biology lectures Run to elvet hill! 11-12 chem tutorial Run back from elvet hill! 12-1.00 chemistry lecture 1.00-2.15 lunch in the chemistry cafe 2.15-5.15 labs Back to college, generally do quite a bit of work on Thursday nights. Friday Lie in!! 1.15-2.15 chemistry lecture 2.15-5.15 biology labs Back to college, eat 7.20-9.30 ish Hockey practice Saturday Lots of chilling, very little work. Sunday Hockey match usually, perhaps conditioning at hild bede depending on how lazy I’m feeling Watch a film with friends, finish off any work due for Monday Bed
Monday - Get up, usually around 8:30, put the bins out and make breakfast. head up to the site and maybe get some reading done before Atomic and Optical Physics at 12. After that head up to my lab and do some lab work (for lab work read drink tea and play linux games) until about quarter to six when i head down to football fitness. do that and get stupidly tired and usually one of the other girls will come round for curry in the eve. Tuesday, much of the same except get to the site for theoretical astro at ten. then have tea until another AOP at 12. labs all afternoon as well. them aliens arn't gonna find themselves. stay in on tuesday nights. Wednesday. depends. if we;ve got an away match for football we could be meeting as ridiculously early as half eight. which wipes out the whole day. if its a home match i go to advanced astro at 11, then go home and grab a sandwich and my kit and head to the pitch for one. if we don't have a match would have training at two. football socials are on wednesday nights. Thursday. gotta be up for a meeting with my supervisors at 10. i report i haven't found any aliens. they don't look surprised but tell me to keep looking. then its pub lunch hangover cure and gossip about the night before with the footballers. usually miss my 1:15 advanced astro. but make it up to labs in the aft. football training from eight till ten in the eve. Friday. I panic that i haven't done my weekly homeworks due in at 2:15 and frantically try and get them done in the morning. head to theoretical astro at 12 and pray someone in my lectures has done them. eventually scrape together some to hand in. doss about most of friday afternoon. maybe go to tesco, do some shopping. sometimes head to planet on friday nights Weekend. usually college football and rugby matches on. so i play them. and go to revolver sometimes. so yeah. brill.
08:30 - wake up and realise it's the worst day of the week, snooze button at least twice. 08:50 - leave for 9am foundations lecture 09:00 - foundations lecture, usually quite boring, but sometimes our dutch lecturer tells us to check his "web ****e" 10:00 - technology for the modern world (engineering elective) lecture - quite boring but no final exam, just multiple choice tests on DUO every term 11:00 - Programming and Data Structures practical - 2 hours long, but not uncommon to finish and leave after an hour. Usuaully involves implementing a data structure that the lecturer was talking about in the last lecture in java. 12:00 - arrive back at college 12:30 - lunch, usually potatoes and more potatoes, with a side dish of mystery meat (is it pork? is it chicken? beef? who knows) 13:00 - catch up with college friends for a bit 14:05 - leave for Systems Sandwich (2 Programming and Data Structures lectures, with a computer systems lecture in the middle) 14:15 - Programming and data structures lecture - sometimes have legendary lecturer that wears an afro wig and plays us songs on his accordian at "half time" 15:15 - Computer systems, usually quite interesting 16:15 - Programming and data structures lecture - getting bored by this point, resort to hangman 17:15 - Arrive back at college, see what college friends are up to 18:00 - dinner (a.k.a reheated lunch) 18:30 - do some work if i have any, if not watch tv or something 20:00 - go to college bar for a few drinks 23:00 - can i be bothered to go out? i've got a lie in tomorrow so really should Tuesday: 12:00 - wake up 12:30 - lunch 13:15 - Formal aspects lecture (graph theory sub module, highly boring most of the time) 14:15 - Programming and data structures practical - general java, usually end up making some kind of game 16:15 - Done for the day, doss about a bit, go to dinner, do whatevers going on in the evening Wednesday 08:40 - wake up 09:00 - Computer systems practical - usually not too challenging so can leave early 11:00 - done for the day - everyone has wednesday afternoons off so usually end up doing something with college friends, football on the meadow or something usually, then dinner, then hit the college bar, possibly go out Thursday 08:40 - wake up 09:00 - foundations of computer science lecture + practical, much the same as mondays 11:00 - done for the day, repeat wednesday from this point, somtimes go out in the evening Friday 08:40 - wake up 09:00 - computer systems lecture - usually quite interesting 10:00 - formal aspects lecture - logic, highly boring 11:00 - programming and data structures lecture (well, specifically data structures), usually pointless as his handouts are enough to understand the topic, him reading them at you doesn't really help much 12:00 - done, hit lunch at half past 13:00 - chill for a bit, nap maybe? 16:45 - Formal aspects practical, possibly worst time ever, should really ask to move to a different practical group, usually leave early 18:15 - done for the day, hit dinner 18:45 - doss for a bit 20:30 - pre-drinks, neck as much as possible 23:00 - planet of sound 03:00 - bed Saturday 12:30 - lunch, then doss for a bit, see what everyones up to 17:00 - dinner, repeat pre-drinking then revolver if can be bothered, if not go to the bar for a few drinks Sunday 12:30 - lunch, then doss for a bit, see what everyones up to 17:00 - dinner, then do some work if i have any, usually just end up going for a drink in the bar again
Other Useful Links | 
|
