In this post, I will give an overview of the kind of activities that I spent my time doing as a first year Physics & Philosophy student at King’s College London, so that you can get an idea of how your week could look like.
To start with, I was given a personalised timetable including all in-person and online lectures, seminars, problem classes and tutorials. There was quite a lot of independent work: Watching pre-recorded lectures, doing weekly readings for Philosophy modules or working on the weekly problem sheets for Maths and Physics. My classmates and I would usually work on some of these tasks together and help motivate each other, so it was not tedious at all.
What I liked the most was attending in-person classes on campus. During Philosophy seminars we would have small-group discussions about the readings, and we were able to ask questions and clarify concepts. In the problem classes for Maths and Physics we had some time to work on the problems with our classmates and then we would go through the solutions all together. During my first year, I also had weekly meetings with my tutor, where I could ask questions about the coursework or any concern I had about university in general.
After or in between classes, I would go to the library/study rooms or meet my classmates at one of the many cafés around campus. My favourite one is the vegan café in the 8th floor in Bush House, where you have amazing (and very affordable!) food while enjoying views of the Thames and Westminster.
If assignments such as formative essays, coursework, quizzes or group projects were due in, my week would consequently be more packed and I would spend more time in the library.
So, you might be asking, am I going to have time to do anything else apart from keeping up with academic studies? My answer is: of course, yes! You just need to be a little bit organised and learn how to manage your time.
The list of social events within King’s is endless. There are an infinite number of societies that offer weekly events and socials. For example, I would usually go to Art Society events on Thursdays at 6pm, which were ideal for a post-study art session. Besides, there are sports societies, which usually ask for more commitment. In my case, I played field Hockey. I would have trainings on Monday afternoon and matches on Wednesday and Sunday. After our match on Wednesday, we would go out to Sports Night (people who don’t play sports also come!) at Guy’s Bar or The Vault (depending on what campus your sports team is from) where I would meet people and have the best time dancing.
Apart from university life, which could easily take all of my time, I usually had time during weekends to explore London. There is so much to do in this fantastic city, from museums and galleries to live music events, food and clothes markets, and enjoying the buzzing night life in Soho, Hackney or Shoreditch.
Finally, I would also like to note that there are many part-time job opportunities both within and outside King’s which could be well-combined with university.
Read more…
Check out Puja’s take on discovering London whilst at King’s
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