As a fourth year psychology student, life can be quite busy. Psychology is usually a three-year course, however, I decided to take a placement year during my third year. This is where people go and work for a year, which in my case was as a Government Social Researcher in the civil service. Upon my return to university, I am completing my final year. This means attending lectures, completing assignments, and working on a dissertation. Here is a typical day in my life as a finalist.
Start the day well
I always try to start my day with having a sufficient breakfast and completing some form of exercise, whether that be going to the gym with my housemates, going for a run, or just doing some stretching. Taking care of yourself at university is vitally important to be able to keep up with academics. Over my time at university, I’ve learnt that eating and moving my body is a great way to get myself ready to start the day.
Prioritise work
Once I am ready to start work, I look at my to do list. I try to keep work habits I picked up on my placement, such as keeping a to do list or checking my emails when I open my laptop. This just helps me keep on top of my workload. I usually start with any reading I have to do for that week. If that’s done, I then assess if any of my other tasks are urgent and or important before I decide what to complete.
Lectures, tutorials and modules
Then, it’s time for a lecture. In my experience, I have had mostly core modules during my first and second year, however, in my final year I have entirely optional modules (except for my dissertation). This has worked very well for me as it means that I have a solid foundation of understanding many different areas of psychology, but I also get to tailor my modules to what I find most interesting. Most of my lectures this year have been single term, so my contact hours have varied between terms. Currently I have six contact hours a week. My lectures are typically two hours long. Depending on the module this is either the full two hours of content being delivered like a lecture, or one hour is delivered like a typical lecture and the other hour is delivered like a tutorial, with either a discussion or a group activity. I chose to pick modules more based on social psychology or biopsychology as that is what I find the most interesting.
Social time
After my work is done for the day, I wind down. Since being at university I have realised that having a social life is just as important as academics. During the evening, I usually spend time watching films/TV with my housemates. However, I sometimes go out and see my friends. There’s lots of nice things to do in Durham, from go for food or take a walk around town. It’s also nice to socialise with people on your course. Sometimes, I meet up with other psychology students who took a placement year. It’s nice to chat to people with similar experiences.
Finally, I make sure everything for tomorrow is done and I go to bed, ready for the next day.
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