City, University of London BSc (Hons) Journalism student, Mariana Marques, writes a candid account of what a typical day at University is like for her.
Morning
I wish I was one of those students that gets up, puts on whatever comes first in the closet and runs to university. Instead, I wake up at least two hours before (around 7am), have breakfast calmly (two cups of coffee is a necessity), check emails, spend 20 minutes enjoying snuggling in bed, and only then start to get ready.
Morning conversations in my flat are very rare, mostly because I am currently living with strangers. There are pros and cons to it: we don’t share much of our day, so I have forgotten what it is like to run to my flatmate’s room when something exciting happens, or when I’m having a hard time. In the morning though, I am quite thankful: I need my time alone.
Like most students, I don’t sleep much (7 hours maximum, don’t follow my lead). However, unlike most students, I enjoy getting up early and taking advantage of my time, so morning classes aren’t that much of a pain for me.
The most common morning text is “Where is the class?” because, you know, humans have the memory of a goldfish – students included. There is often a generous soul who will even tell me exactly HOW to get to that room. Fortunately, it only takes me about 10 minutes walking to university- I would absolutely hate to take the tube in the morning and so I admire those who commute to work every day.
When in class, I always try to find my best friends to sit next to and we often catch up then. With the classmates I’m not close with, the conversation goes as it follows: “How are you?”, “Good and you?”, “Tired”, “Yeah, me too”. It stops there, but I believe if I needed their help, they would be there for me.
I’m a busy person with two part-time jobs and because I do fashion and beauty blogging, I’m often attending events in the evening. That leaves me with no time to catch up with friends or for alone time, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
The reality is that having a coffee by myself (I love spending time by myself, weirdly, or not) has become a luxury, but who doesn’t like little luxuries? It makes us realise that time is precious.
Afternoon
After a morning class, I’ll head home for a quick lunch while I keep updated with my latest TV series. I love multi-tasking and watching TV Series while eating.
Trying not to fall asleep after lunch is a real issue, but one more cup of coffee after (and resisting the temptation to sit on my bed), and I’m ready to head to my other job. My job is flexible so I can choose which days I work and if I want to work morning or evening shifts. If I’m not working (lucky me!), I’ll go for coffee with a friend, shopping, or binge watch a good TV Series. If I am working in the evening, then my free time is non-existent.
Evening
I’ll have dinner at work, head home around 10-11pm, make myself some tea and scroll down on Instagram for the next half-an-hour or so because no matter how busy I am, I’m young and wild and free, and there is always time for a quick scroll (being a millennial is an excuse for this, I suppose).
Studying Journalism means I am not required to do much independent study as there are many more writing and in-class projects than exams. Evenings are a good time for me to put a relaxing music playlist on and do my coursework.
I often go to bed around midnight – I will never be the kind of student who works overnight to meet a deadline. Organising may well be my middle name as I try to stick to my agenda as much as possible and hate leaving things until last minute.
Once in a while there is an exciting event to attend, and I’m always up for socialising, meeting people, having a drink (or more than one, depending on the day of the week)- I’m a lucky one for having incredible people around me.
I hope you didn’t get bored while reading this (the word “work” might appear too much, but I guarantee you I have lots of fun). I have to admit being a Journalism student in London is quite cool.
