Martha Grogan, who studies English and American Literature and Creative Writing with a Year Abroad, takes us through an average week, and offers some advice to people about to begin their studies.<\/p>\n
So, for my course (English Literature and Creative Writing), you\u2019ll have two modules per term, one literature one and a creative writing one. This means two lectures per week, and two seminars\/workshops per week to complement the lecture, with maybe some extras sprinkled in. The rest of the week is yours to do all your reading, primary and secondary sources — if there\u2019s a big novel on the syllabus, don\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll be given plenty of warning. You won\u2019t have to read Middlemarch in one week. Most essays are due at the end of term, everything is scored out of 100 which makes life easy. And the staff are so happy to help; you\u2019ll have their emails and office hours, and you\u2019re encouraged to go. Whether you have a question about admin stuff, want to expand on something from class, or just have a chat, they\u2019re there for you! You\u2019ll also have an academic advisor, who is your go to for everything. I\u2019ve talked to mine about everything from my future career, changing my course, literally anything.<\/p>\n
Contact hours are 6-8 hours a week, which might sound low, but you\u2019re expected to do so much independent study. It\u2019s tempting to see your contact hour timetable and think of the rest of the week like free periods. I know I fell into this during my first term at university. I then realised that I needed to organise myself a bit better, and started allocating my free days into library study time. Some people say to treat uni like a full time job, 9-5. I think that\u2019s a little extreme for a humanities course but it depends on how you work. Do you need a study timetable? Make one. Do you need an accountability partner? Study together with people. You work on a rewards system? Get one of those timed containers with chocolate inside. It\u2019s all up to you now, and you know how you work best.<\/p>\n
In the first year, it\u2019s quite easy to choose your modules because most of them will be compulsory. Over time, you\u2019ll learn what you\u2019re into and what you\u2019re not. Like this week\u2019s Parliament of Fowls by Chaucer? Awesome, you can go take some speciality mediaeval literature module next year. Absolutely flipping hate Middle English, Chaucer and anything written before 1900? No worries, it\u2019ll only be for one week. I chose my modules based on what I really liked. My third year modules were: Marxism, the Body in the 18th century, the Book Project, and Poetry Beyond Text. You\u2019ll be surprised, no matter how random they may seem, how all your modules inform on another. In first year, I did take a wild module – it was Reading and Writing the Everyday, and while I was already doing creative writing, it was really cool hearing the perspectives of classmates who were writing for the first time. But you can go wilder with your wild modules. My friend did a module on the American Revolution because she was really into Hamilton at the time. Go wild, it\u2019s in the name.<\/p>\n
The English common room is comfy, if you want to chill\/study in a small room with sofas and a little library. I had a friend who would take naps there (not that I endorse this behaviour, I just want to prove how nice it is). Quite honestly, the facility I used most was Templeman library, open 24\/7 and has computers, silent areas, and tons of study space. Especially living on campus, I\u2019d find myself in the library at all odd hours of the night\/early morning, fueled by coffee from the library cafe. I\u2019d borrow tons of books for my course, but also find little gems I\u2019d read for their own sake – among my favourites was a book about the representation of frogs in literature.<\/p>\n
I live off a little road from the main high street, practically in the city centre, with three housemates, we all made friends when we shared our first year halls. The walking commute is absolutely fine, up a footpath, and very bike friendly, even if the hill up to campus is a little steep. It\u2019s a five minute bus ride from campus to town, and I\u2019d definitely recommend getting a bus pass, not just for convenience and accessibility sake but also if you have one, you\u2019ll find yourself going out more often because you don\u2019t have to think about transport. The Uni1 and Uni2 are fairly regular – I think if you\u2019re from a city you\u2019ll be disappointed, but if you\u2019re a country bumpkin, you’ll be very impressed the bus comes every ten\/twenty minutes or so.<\/p>\n
In my first year, I lived in Darwin accommodation. You share a flat with four other people, sharing a shower\/wetroom and a toilet. Two flats share a kitchen, so ten people per kitchen. While a little intimidating, sharing with so many strangers, I can think of no better way to make fast friends with people. Learning to share space, and time, you make personal connections real quick. The parties would pre-drink in nextdoor\u2019s kitchen while the introverts gravitated together and watched films in another. I also really loved Origins, the bar\/restaurant in the building. After every piece of coursework I\u2019d hand in, I\u2019d go get a steak as a reward, either take-away to my room or eating in. There\u2019s pool tables, and they host karaoke nights and indie music events. And just outside is a vending machine, which I used to scuttle up to after a hard study session for that blood sugar boost.<\/p>\n
My favourite coffee shop is Garage Coffee, a little place a couple of doors down from the Cathedral Gate, where you can choose your beans and even buy a packet for home which theyll grind for you. There\u2019s a discount for reusable cups, and plenty of space to do some work, and some delicious cakes, and keep winning awards for their stuff. They also serve their coffee in the Gulbenkian cafe, the cinema\/theatre on campus. My favourite bar is called Privy, it\u2019s a little speakeasy style bar under the ground by the Thomas Ingoldsby Wetherspoons. It\u2019s a pretty cool cocktail bar, considering it\u2019s a refurbished public toilet. Students get free access to the cathedral, and there\u2019s also a cool library. The Beaney library is a really good resource if you\u2019re not at Templeman library on campus, and upstairs has an amazing exhibition\/museum space, especially if you\u2019re into taxidermy.<\/p>\n
Last weekend I went to London to meet my partner\u2019s parents, we had dinner in Covent Garden. Taking the high speed train takes no time at all. I also did take a class trip to the Globe for a second year Shakespeare module, which was very cool. There are quite a few buses\u00a0 to Whistable and Herne Bay if you ever have a hankering for seaside fish and chips.<\/p>\n
I am a member of the LGBTQ+ society, which is a great place to make friends. Because this particular society is about the people rather than a specific activity, there\u2019s all sorts to get up to; coffee mornings, pub crawls, board game nights, film showings, book clubs, pub quizzes to list stuff off the top of my head. I\u2019ve made friends for life there.<\/p>\n
Take a deep breath. Relax. Don\u2019t worry. Maybe something easier said than done. I think the most important thing to remember is that everyone is in the same boat as you. In a new place, in a new course, in a new home, with new people. You\u2019re doing great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"