jeh_jeh
Single Honours Italian - First Year
My timetable is static throughout the three terms, so I can't see my routine changing very much. I don't have that many contact hours - 9/week - so I tend to spend time reading (or, most likely, sleeping).
On a Monday, I have a lecture 1-2pm, so I generally sleep in 'til 12:30pm-ish, and then have an uber rush to the Social Studies building to get there in time. Every week, I promise myself I'll wake up earlier the next week, but this inevitably never happens. Not only am I pretty lazy, but Monday tends to be essay hand-in day for the Italian modules, so I've most likely gone to bed far too late on Sunday evening. I'll come back to my room at 2pm and do the reading and prep for the matching seminar that's 4-5pm. Again, I'm not very organised here, either, so this two hour gap is a lifesaver. I'll often prat around on the internet (read: obsessively stalk people on Facebook) during this time, too, or pop to Costcutters and indulge in my usual Fresh2Go chicken salad, Diet Coke and Special K Bliss bar (yes, I'm a creature of habit). After my seminar, I'll come back to find my sciences and Maths hallmates (who supposedly have more contact hours [and therefore pressure] than me) sleeping, and our kitchen deserted.
Warwick has a bit of a reputation (or at least I got this impression before I started) for being somewhat of an antisocial university. I can refute this claim entirely with the student madness that is Top Banana! A few strategic knocks on doors and the sleeping beauties are awakened for a night of hardcore drinking. £2 entry + £1 drinks = good night out < £10. I never knew the university before the Temporary Events Structure occupied Tocil Field, and I have to say that although Top Bs have been a bit hit-and-miss there (they started off very crowded and, as a result, far too hot 'cause the air con. was crap), I'm weirdly gonna miss the floor that bounces like it's about to give way now that it's been abandoned in favour of Tempo and the Grad@Cholo in preparation for the launch of Phase1 of the Union rebuild at the beginning of Term3.
For someone with such few contact hours, I have a horrible timetable. My only 9am of the week is on, you guessed it, a Tuesday morning. Because we never got straight to bed after Top B (kitchen parties, ftw), it's inevitably a crazy hour at which my bed is reached (if at all - it's often easier not to sleep, 'cause then you don't have to worry about sleeping through the alarm) and so Tuesday combined lecture/seminar (the only two hours we get for the particular module) pass in a tired and hungover daze. I then come back to my room and die for a couple of hours (and do grammar and conversation homework. See a pattern emerging yet?!) in preparation for my double whammy of Italian language (advanced) from 1-3pm. After this, I'll often come home and work (writing up grammar notes from the points covered in class, etc) until my hallmates are back. Tuesdays are pretty quiet as far as the SU's concerned, so sometimes we go to the Student Cinema (off the Science Concourse in L3) ('High School Musical 3' has been a particular favourite this year...!), or just drink in-kitchen, being the raving alcoholics we are.
Wednesday is fairly relaxed because I only have one seminar. It's for the optional outside module that I had to take - in my case it's The Epic Tradition - and my seminar tutor is incredibly passionate, which is good. However, I often feel that all the Classics geeks know so much more than I do, so I tend to be pretty quiet. The rest of Wednesday is primarily either a sleeping day, or a hardcore essay day. Wednesday evening is Score!, which we go to sometimes. I'm not a huge fan, so sometimes we go to the Cinema, or just hang out in the kitchen. I guess socially it's slightly different for me because one of the boys in our kitchen isn't eighteen yet, so we haven't been able to do the Coventry/Leamington club scene yet. Wednesday nights often end up being quite unpredictable, and late-night walks to the Library foyer for Ben&Jerry's icecream are not unheard of. We've even taking to going to the Tesco's just off campus.
Thursday morning is translation class, for which my attendance is slightly luck-of-the-draw, depending on the night before. And then I have the lecture for Epic, which is always a bit of a waste of an hour, to be honest, but I have to go otherwise I don't get the notes and, believe me, I need them. Thursday night isn't regularly anything in particular, either, so we often go to the Kami Lounge, or the Grad, and have a drink. We inevitably either end up going back to one of the other halls, or having people over in our kitchen, so there's always something going on.
Friday is completely lecture-free day for me, so I sleep in late and then either procrastinate the day away or, if I have an essay looming (ie in for the following Monday), I get my head down and work. Often, I'll also go food shopping with a friend, and then eat together. Sometimes I'll go home for a long weekend, although this is becoming rarer. Friday evenings are spent, pretty much, in a drunken haze. Every other week is the Union's indie night in the nightclub, Tempo, and we tend to unwind nicely after a stressful week.
On a Saturday, I sleep in late and wait for the after-effects of the night before to wear off. If I need to do laundry, I do it now. Saturday night we either go out, or hang out in the kitchen, and Sunday is one long sleep catch up ready for another busy week. In the evening, I go to the Christian Union, and then tend to go and catch another film with my hallmates.
I think I've been very lucky with my kitchen, in that we've all bonded really well as a group, so even if there's nothing very appealing going on at the Union, drinking in the kitchen turns into a lot of fun, and we've been known to have some rather "epic adventures" (read: completely stupid ideas that seemed like a good idea at the time and are completely hilarious in retrospect) together.
The workload in Term1 wasn't that bad. I had a commentary to write for after reading week for Epic, an essay and then an essay set to be handed in after the Christmas holidays. I had one essay for each of my two Italian content modules in Term1, too. This term is proving to be more work intensive, yet it seems that as we're bonding more and more as a social group, we're drinking more and so work is taking more and more of a back seat. I'm not entirely sure that it's the correct correlation, but since my first year doesn't count (not above the 40% required pass grade), I'm not too stressed. As for how long I spend on an essay, I'm a bit crazy in that I work best under pressure, so it really just depends how long I give myself. I don't find that giving myself longer produces better grades for me personally, either. Yeah, see, told you I'm weird.
I've joined a few societies, too, although I rarely go to their socials - if I have any spare time I sleep!