First Year
In first year things are a little different, you only have to do normal Problem Based Learning (PBL) because you don’t have option modules. Bearing in mind that second year involves an increase in work, my week still isn’t too bad. It varies along with how much I have going on, but this should give you confidence that the work load is not overwhelming and you’ll still have time to do other things. Two of my housemates are very involved in three different societies, another is the captain of the rugby team and they manage to keep up with everything.
A week in the life of a second year Law student
Monday
We fed back on last weeks PBL problem ready to start a new one. I try and get at least an hour of work in on the problem so I have a head start. I go through the block guide given to us at the start of term to get a better idea of the general issues I’m researching.
Tonight I will finish any legal skills preparation I need to do, that can be preparing a speech or getting notes together or just thinking about certain issues.
Today we also do a weekly shop, one of the guys in my house has a car so we all go to Morrison’s.
Tuesday
We do legal skills on a Tuesday morning. In this particular picture we are making up a case analysis for the current scenario we are working on. It helps us test the strength of evidence and how we can use it to our advantage.
We went out for cocktails tonight to celebrate my friend’s birthday (it’s actually on Friday but this Friday we have a few additional lectures so we decided on tonight) so I gave myself the night off work.
Wednesday
Today I had a Family Law seminar with my optional module group. It’s similar to normal PBL but we alter it slightly to suit us better. This is all I have for today so I do some of the reading for my lecture because it also helps with the problem that week.
The afternoon is dedicated to careers events like “first impressions” or “assessment centres” so they are really useful to go to if they are relevant to you. You have to book on to some of them in advance because they can be popular so if there’s something you really want to know keep an eye out for emails from Chris. I had a little nap because I was tired from last night.
I also do a bit more research for the weekly PBL so I can prepare for the interim feedback session.
Thursday
Today we have interim in the afternoon so I have a bit of a lie in then get ready to go. Every other week in the morning we have a Professionalism and Ethics PBL session so some weeks I also have that to prepare for. Following the interim session I write up everything and research anything extra that was brought up. This helps because I can cover anything I’ve missed. I also don’t have to do much over the weekend if I do this in enough detail.
Friday
This photo was taken by a friend who unfortunately was tasked with sneakily plugging in our laptops. This is our longest day of lectures this term so it puts a strain on the batteries. We have an hour long break in between so this is also when we go to lunch at The Glasshouse cafe on campus.
The lectures are usually linked with the PBL problem so I spend a few minutes afterwards adding to my PBL notes ready for Monday. Today we had an assessment lecture on what we need to do and also an options session about possible modules to choose in third year. You have one in first year as well and a few lectures that should give you an idea of what you might like to study. They don’t make you pick too soon and you rate your options so you are more likely to get at least one of your top choices.
After this we went home and watched films with the rest of the house. It was a long day!
Saturday
Today I have a rest in the morning and relax. Then I do some finishing touches on my work for the week. I am also working on an Open Day today as a Student Ambassador. It’s a really useful job because you can pick your hours to suit you so they don’t interfere with other work or social things you have on. I also really enjoy showing people round the university because in first year having to give tours was a useful way of me forcing myself to learn my way around campus.
I sometimes go back to visit family for the weekend and to help out at my job at a pub at home, again I just let them know when I’ll be about and they give me shifts. So if you’re wanting to work at university, it’s possible. Even if the majority of what I earn goes towards Domino’s, I like both jobs!
Sunday
Today I have very little on because most of my work is done. I have gone through my current coursework task and spend a few hours researching that. I also decided to cook my housemates a meal, two of them are busy all day with different societies and I know they’ll get back late without eating so that is my task today.
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