{"id":4326,"date":"2019-01-08T16:19:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T16:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/?p=4326"},"modified":"2020-03-09T15:55:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T15:55:01","slug":"day-psychology-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/student-voices\/2019\/01\/08\/day-psychology-student\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day in the Life of a Psychology Student"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psychology is the perfect subject for me. My contact hours give my days some structure, making it a lot easier to plan around them. Generally speaking, I\u2019ll have 15-20 contact hours a week. Although this fluctuates depending on the point in the term. It may sound like a lot in comparison to other courses, but don\u2019t panic! Some things, like feedback sessions, are optional.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll talk you through one of my days late in the Autumn term, just to give an example. Thankfully, not all of my days are this hectic but I thought I\u2019d document one that makes me look productive and studious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Morning<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>I started off with a <\/span>Social, Personality & Abnormal lecture <\/b>from <\/span>9-11am<\/b>. We can\u2019t complain about this early start, as there\u2019s not a student club night on Monday\u2019s so there\u2019s no excuse to stay in bed! <\/span><\/p>\n

This was followed by a <\/span>Development & Language lecture<\/b> from <\/span>11am-1pm.<\/b> It\u2019s not too bad though because we get a bit of a break in between. If we\u2019re lucky, it\u2019s long enough to go grab a mid-morning panini from Roger Kirk Centre (as I may or may not do much more often than I should\u2026).<\/span><\/p>\n

Every lecture you\u2019ll have as a psychology student at York is two hours long. This is an advantage because there will be a break halfway through for you to ask any questions and chat to the lecturer. Plus, it makes the trip to your department seem much more worth it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Afternoon<\/h2>\n

After these two lectures, I had a gap in my timetable from <\/span>1-2pm<\/b>. I popped to the <\/span>Roger Kirk Centre<\/b> and made a beeline for the squishy sofas and did the <\/span>assigned reading<\/b> for my tutorial th\"\"<\/a>at afternoon. Twice a term, you\u2019ll have a session for each of your five <\/span>modules with a group of 10-15 people. This provides the opportunity for more focussed study on a particular topic area in the strand. On this particular day, I had my Perception & Cognition tutorial<\/b> from 2-3pm<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Like I said, I love the structure provided by my timetable. I find it easier to stay motivated and schedule what work I will do and when, as well as fitting in meetings and social time. I knew I would already be on campus, so I booked a <\/span>careers meeting<\/b> at <\/span>3:15pm<\/b> to chat with my advisor about my ongoing placement year<\/strong> search – this is the bane of my life at the moment, so the support and motivation from her are always very much in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After all that brain exertion, I met my friend at <\/span>Courtyard <\/b>for a well-deserved beverage and bowl of nachos. Before heading to the library to finish off my <\/span>Brain & Behaviour essay <\/b>due in later that week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Evening<\/h2>\n

Around <\/span>6pm<\/b> I think my brain had pretty much given up – somewhat ironically – so I h<\/span>eaded home. I caught up with my housemates and chilled out for a bit before popping out to <\/span>York <\/b>Sport Village for an hour at 7:30pm<\/b>. I know that for a lot of people, going to the gym would not be their idea of an evening well spent, but I love being active. Even if it\u2019s just an excuse to watch Netflix on my phone while I\u2019m on the cross-trainer, it never fails helps me sleep better and feel more positive.<\/span><\/p>\n

A great bonus of student life is that you can tailor your days to suit how you’re feeling and (trust me) they won’t all be as productive as this. It’s just a matter of getting the right balance of productivity, socialising and downtime and you’re bound to do alright.<\/p>\n

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