A student's plan for Semester 2

Now that I'm well into my second semester, I have taken a moment to bring together my thoughts on what I need to improve on.

I’m not a huge person for going out into Nottingham centre to clubs, so for me I needed to find an alternative way to relax after a long day of lectures!

This term I am trying to find a better work-life balance, particularly when it comes to physical activity.

A big help here is being part of Uni leagues – I’d definitely recommend it. I’m continuing with badminton games each week in the Sutton Bonington Badminton IMS league - it’s more of a social league than serious competition.. Also, I have been a keen cricket player and, whilst in September I joined the university cricket team, with being on Sutton Bonington campus I found it difficult to find the time and motivation to go to University Park for training. This term I’m making a conscious effort to go to training once a week if not to both sessions – it can be hard when you’re not at your main campus, but it’s worth it.

With such a full-on degree (I do Veterinary), it’s important to make time for myself – which can be hard some weeks! At times, your brain needs a rest and it means you will be more productive when you come to work later, or so I’ve found anyway. Sport is a great way of achieving this for me as it is something I’m passionate about and the cricket sessions on University Park are always good fun and make up for the time spent travelling.

My main concern at the moment is my level of knowledge with the new Cardiorespiratory module I am studying – it sounds and can be pretty daunting! Our contact hours are 9am -5pm every day, apart from Wednesday where we have the afternoon off like most unis. So, it’s definitely a challenge to find the time to write up the lectures. Personally, I struggle to absorb information the first time I hear it, so I make notes on every lecture during evenings and weekends.

A good tip? I’m typing up notes and printing them which is much faster, although I’m not 100% sure It’s as beneficial when it comes to learning the content.

I’m already looking forward to the Easter break, as this has been a challenging term so far with exams and results to stress over! I’m quite excited to have time at home relaxing with no revision!

Over the Easter break, I’m home for the first 10 days of the holiday and will be spending time catching up with family and friends before heading off to a sheep farm to help with their lambing period.

The lambing is essential work experience as part of my Veterinary degree. I will be helping with all aspects of lambing, from feeding pet lambs to bringing new lambs into the world and helping them through their first few days of life. As much as the three-week placement will be very tiring, it will be extremely rewarding, and I expect to learn a lot about how a commercial sheep farm operates.

Possibly not the most common activity over the Easter break – definitely not as relaxing as some! I’m really looking forward it though. Are you up to anything different during the break?!

This is a guest post written by one of our Uni Life Bloggers Georgi Walker.​