I've
made a diary of a typical few days in the life of myself - a student, to try to
put pay to the myth that all students don't get up until midday or later and get
drunk until all hours. Day
one - Monday I'm
up at 8.55am - got dressed, let the dog out, fed the cat, let the dog in and fed
the dog. Sat at my computer, checked a few emails, searched on the Internet for
Human Rights stories for a portfolio for a unit on my course. This
took around an hour until I had to go to a lecture. At 11am I sat in a lecture
and wrote 12 pages of notes.
At
12pm I went to find more Human Rights articles until 1pm when I left for a chat
with a senior journalist at the local commercial radio station to see about work
experience. At 2.35pm I left the premises at Waterside South, Lincoln and headed
for town to get the bus home. I
stopped at McDonald's on my way home, which is one of the things students get
called for, but hey, I was hungry.
 | | Holly
and her dog, Rumba |
At
4pm I get back home (in the south of the city), watched an episode of the X-Files
then two episodes of FRIENDS. During this time I was thinking of ideas for stories
for a work portfolio I had to produce for a unit on my course. At
6pm I watched the Simpsons after feeding the dog. 6.30pm was Hollyoaks then 7-8pm
The Simpsons. I
then set about finding journals for my dissertation. This took an hour, I then
watched a documentary on Sky One. Once
this was finished I went looking for jobs on websites because the two part-time
jobs I have, one home-based weren't paying what they promised to to begin with. At
11pm I let the dog out and in, then went to bed as my boyfriend was home by then. Day
two - Tuesday
Woke with my alarm at 6.50am, got dressed and let the
dog out. I let her back in, fed her, looked for more Human Rights stories on the
Internet and watched SKy Sports News until 8am when I fed the cat and left to
catch a bus to uni.
I
arrived at 8.20am, went to a newsroom in the LRC at Lincoln uni, checked emails
and the Virtual Campus on the university's network for lecture notes.
At
8.50am I left the room to get to a 9am lecture. I sat through this lecture and
took another 10-12 pages of notes.
At 10am I left to meet a tutor about
some coursework I wanted to get started on but wasn't sure if my ideas were sound
enough. At
10:40am I left to meet a friend who I had an 11am seminar with. We chatted then
went to the seminar.
We all had to give examples of an international Human
Rights story (hence me always looking for stories on the Internet these last couple
of days). Fortunately
it wasn't like school nowadays and everyone had brought a story or two with them
and didn't have excuses why they'd not done. A
few students were missing but I suspect that was more to do with the harsh weather
than anything else, as we had a seminar similar to this one a couple of weeks
ago and everyone showed up and brought a story, some more than one.
At
12pm I left with the afore mentioned friend, we went to her apartment for lunch
and a catch up as we'd not seen each other properly for a week, as being in the
third year we have a lot of work on.
We talked about uni work, men, life,
uni work, food, friends and ate pasta for lunch.
At
3.30pm I left to go home on the bus.
I got home and emailed a tutor about a
guest lecturer I'd like to interview as the tutor had asked if anyone wanted to
in the previous seminar.
I
made tea around 6.30pm after feeding the dog, watching the news and The Simpons.
I watched Champion's League football and read the Economist magazine and at 10pm
my boyfriend went o bed.
I
checked my emails not long after this and found I had one from the tutor I'd emailed
earlier. We spent a further hour emailing back and forward and in between me researching
this guest lecturer and writing questions to ask him.
At
12.30am I let the dog out, fed the cat, let the dog in and went to bed. Day
three - Wednesday At
6.30am I got up as my boyfriend had gone to work only 10 minutes previous to this
so I was already awake.
I had essays on my mind - wanting to get them
out of the way more than anything. Ideas buzzing around in my head which I had
to get down on paper or on the computer.
I
got dressed, let the dog out, then in then fed the cat, before spending the next
two and a half hours writing the majority of two essays, some of which I'd already
written, as well as letting the dog out, then in, then feeding her and the cat.
I
took a break and watched Trisha until 10:30am. I then looked for journals for
my dissertation and finally found the two I was looking for. I
had to read and digest them, then write a literary review of them for next Monday.
I did this by 11:30am.
I
then shredded some paperwork as I didn't want anyone getting my name and address
off old letters and envelopes from the rubbish.
I
watched the news, Coronation Street and Ermmerdale repeats, while checking emails
- mainly waiting for another tutor to get back to me about an essay I need to
start.
I ate lunch around 1pm then watched Neighbours, Doctors and Trisha again.
I
thought about some peoples' attitudes to students, which got me to writing this
article.
I will have to get up at 6.50am again tomorrow for a 9am workshop
until 1pm. I'm
sure many students could've written a diary much-like this one, so I hope people's
attitudes of thinking about all students the opposite way of the above will start
to change now we're five years into the 21st century.
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