Hi all – I am Jess and I am the culture editor here at Her Campus Exeter. I am in my fourth and final (wooo) year of Natural Sciences 🧪🔬 Integrated Masters (with international study) at the University of Exeter. Here is a week in my life…hope you enjoy!
Monday:
Before my lecture I did a quick Pilates YouTube video and got some work done for one of my deadlines. Then I walked up to campus for my Bioimaging lecture from 11:30-12:30, Mondays are always a rush as straight after I have another lecture at 12:30-2:30, which are conveniently on the other side of campus to each other. This lecture was on plastic pollution and microplastics, very depressing but also super interesting. Then I had a project meeting straight after the lecture for my group project on the Blue Planet module. We have to make a 5 minute film on a transformative technique, very interesting but can’t believe that masters students have to make a film! By this time I was starving so rushed home around 3:30 for lunch (can’t remember what I had but probably pasta or cheese on toast while watching Gilmore Girls).
**Side note Gilmore Girls at this time of year 🤝
After lunch I did a bit more work for my assignment and then off to the co-op where I work from 6-12, then home, shower, and bed.
Tuesday:
No classes today woooo! I put on some laundry and went for a swim in the morning. When I got back, I continued working on an assignment due on Monday. This is basically all I did for the rest of the day. As part of my responsibility as social secretary for Natural Sciences Society I am organising the Christmas Ball, so I had to round up food orders, and finalise the seating plan, high-stress job sorting 120 peoples three-course meals, and making sure everything is going where it needs to, I am just praying everything goes to plan on the night (fingers crossed plz).
Wednesday:
I went to tennis in the morning, I play with my friend Anna we are both so hopeless but it’s nice to try something new. Again, spent most of the afternoon working on Mondays deadline.
Work again at the co-op 6pm to midnight, relatively uneventful but they have started playing Christmas music which makes me very happy!
Thursday:
Back at the co-op in the morning 10-3pm (feels like I never leave), and then a slight rush to campus for a lecture at 3:30, on biotechnology, essentially looking at how we can use antibodies as a therapy to treat cancer among other diseases. Came home and had a nap, even set an alarm – might be the most productive nap I’ve ever had.
Got up and got ready to go out, as I had a Natural Sciences social at Zinc raising money for meningitis UK (the theme was 80’s aerobics – so the neon headband and leggings came out)
Ended up pulling some moves like this ^^ at fever – even after insisting I wouldn’t go out out, woopsie!
Friday:
Feeling slightly delicate this morning after last night but had a presentation session at 11:30am (thankfully not my turn to present), I then stayed on campus as I had another lecture at 4:30-5:30 on electron microscopy, which was super interesting. I was meant to go to the Her Campus Christmas market trip but my supervisor for my master’s project emailed saying she wants me to submit an abstract of my project to the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition by the end of next week. I hadn’t touched my project at all this week so needed to smash out some work and pull together an abstract. But if all goes well I might be going to Copenhagen in June to present my project!
Saturday:
My boyfriend normally comes down to stay on the weekend, but he was up in Manchester for a friends birthday. Was a good thing this weekend, because I finally finished the rest of my assignment, along with other bits and bobs. Realised I had been glued to my seat the whole day, so I went out for a walk in the evening, came back and had some dinner, and watched a movie with my house.
Sunday:
Started research for the Her Campus article on Christmas Adverts this year, not sure if its just been a long week but a lot of tears were spilled and was deep in the festive feels.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I love Sundays. They are my ‘rest day’, laundry, any left-over washing up (lots and lots of mugs in my room), hoover, clean bedsheets, cleaning my bathroom, desk, everything. I like how it prepares me for the coming week. Worked on my assignment due tomorrow – I realised I hated the whole thing but its too late to change so Sunday is spent trying to accept what’s done is done.
Some form of self care is always a necessity for me on a Sunday, a facemask, hair mask, colouring-in, incense lit… and the list goes on.
And then it’s Monday again and the cycle starts again…