It’s not all takeaways and books! This is a day in the life of an English student.
I wake up relatively early – well, for a student anyway – and wrap myself in as many layers as possible because the house heating only manages to keep one of the kitchen cupboards warm. I go downstairs and make the much needed tea so that I can function for the day. Then I usually get straight back into my bed and read whatever book is being lectured on this week. I don’t move for about an hour.
Some of my housemates start to wake up. We have communal tea in the kitchen and talk about how much we need to clean and tell the landlord that there are things growing out of the ceiling.
We get ready and walk to campus for a midday lecture. I almost always forget to bring the book along with me, admittedly sometimes on purpose because they are really heavy, but otherwise because I have left it in my bed hidden under all the layers I was wearing earlier. So I spend the lecture trying to work out which part of the book we are actually talking about and trying to write at super speed to explain theories and interpretations for my future exam-taking self in my notes.
Before going home we stop off in the library, which is like a giant furnace in my University. Our books are always on the very bottom underground floor, which is slightly creepy and probably hotter than the Bahamas.
We hunt down some reference books from the lecture, ready for an upcoming essay, and so that we feel like we are being studious and prepared. I get back home and make some motivational tea. I put even more layers on and spend some time procrastinating with my housemates. This usually consists of making weird meals out of whatever we have left in the fridge, watching something terrible on TV or discussing serious topical issues like what we are going to wear out.
I go back to my room and spend a few hours working on an essay that is due and do some more reading. I only have 6 lectures a week so I have a lot of free time, but then an awful lot of reading to do as well.
Once I feel like I’ve done a reasonable amount of work for the day, we all make some more tea. I accidentally end up procrastinating on the internet, usually Facebook or ridiculous news articles on the life story of Julian Casablancas.
After a while I move on to doing something more constructive, so I start to plan my posts for the GKBC Writer Academy. If there is one thing that I have learned from being at university, it is the power of planning. Working out what I am doing beforehand has saved many hours in the library.
The evenings usually consist of cooking something really badly and doing something with my housemates. If there is a deadline, we convene in the living room with copious amounts of tea, biscuits and blankets.
That is a day in the life of an English student. Think of it as lots of reading and even more tea.
About Author: Katie Hopkins is an English graduate with a minor tea addiction. She writes for The GKBC Writer Academy.
