Wondering what it’s like to study Law at university? In this blog, Laura Brunt discusses her average week as a Law student at Newcastle University, from attending lectures to working in the library.
From Monday to Saturday, I usually wake at 8am, not too early but not too late. On a Sunday I’ll often treat myself to a nice lie in, unless I have a pending deadline.
Waking up at this time allows me to get into university for 9am, and from there I will either attend a lecture or go to the library. My average week does not involve many lectures. I have four modules, which works out to be roughly 8 hours of lectures a week. On top of this, I usually have one or two seminars a week. These seminars are a chance to break down into smaller groups, and discuss a topic that we have prepared for. Once a week I host a support class for the second year students, which involves teaching them the skills and techniques needed to succeed in Equity Law.
Other than lectures and seminars, the majority of my daytime is spent in the library. I am currently doing a dissertation as well as my four modules, which means a lot of my time is spent independently studying in the library. Law is a degree which requires quite a lot of self-motivation, and in general I spent around 35 hours a week working individually.
To break up my day, I tend to spend lunch with my friends. We either sit in the common room with a lunch we have brought, or go out for lunch in town. Personally, I find it really important to get a good 30 to 45 minutes away from my work to allow my brain to unwind and relax.
In general, I aim to leave the library at 5 or 6pm every day. This works best for me, as my brain tends not to work past a certain hour. However, several of my friends are the opposite, and prefer to come in later in the morning and stay later in the evening. Luckily, our library is open 24 hours a day and so if I ever do need to do a long stint, university is the place to be.
Because I leave the library relatively early, I am lucky enough to have the evenings to do whatever I please. I usually go to the gym 3 times a week, which is an enjoyable break from work and a good stress relief.
A lot of the social activities I do in the week are with my housemates, so we may go to the pub or go out for a meal. There are often Law Socials to attend, which usually involve a bar crawl in Newcastle city centre and discounted drinks. These are a great opportunity to get to know the people on your course.
Words: Laura Brunt
Loading More Content