The 'week in the life' project was co-created with 11 students currently studying at Cambridge from different disciplines and with different interests. The students created this content in their own voice to represent their own experiences of navigating the Cambridge 'week'.
This is a week in the life with a different angle: a focus on extra-curriculars, which are a valuable part of Cambridge life! Alongside academic study, Cambridge offers you the opportunity to spend time doing sports and pastimes you love, to find people who share your interests (from sailing to bubble tea to D&D) and to try loads of new activities. There are so many options available, and you can check the SU Societies Directory for more information.
You can end up making a lot of lists at university: academic work that you have to do in the week, admin tasks that need completing, and last minute scribbled essay plans.
I like to balance these sometimes quite stressful lists with my extra-curricular plans for the week. It's rewarding to jot down the events you have on, society meetings you'd like to go to, or even Netflix shows you'd like to watch when you've got spare time.
With an extra-curricular list, there's isn't so much of an obligation to tick off all the things you have considered doing: it's an indulgence in considering the activities that you enjoy, as much as it is a practical plan! For a more in-depth look of how non-academic pursuits complement studying at Cambridge, explore my weekly schedule below...
I’d like to say I get up at 9am every morning, but I am by nature a late sleeper who gives in too easily to turning off my alarms and going back to bed. As an English student, I have lectures on most weekday mornings, so being up and ready by 10am or 11am is my goal. On a Monday, I might go to a lecture at 11am, and then another at 12pm, and then study on Sidgwick Site. This is the location of my lectures and my faculty library, the beloved EFL: English Faculty Library. Sidgwick also holds a Buttery, where you can get a cheap lunch or coffee. After fuelling up, I work at the EFL in the afternoon. I get a message mid-study session from the president of my college’s drama society, JCDS (Jesus College Drama Society). As the publicity officer, I post about the society’s events, and so the president asks me to post a graphic about an Open Mic Night we’re hosting on Friday. I collect the details for the night and make a post for Instagram and Facebook using Canva.
After posting the information, I’ll leave the library, go back to college and do a weekly shop. I cook my own food most days, ranging from pasta when I’m busy to burgers and handcut chips or homemade curry when I’ve got more time. After dinner, I might go watch a movie with my friends. The Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge has £5 tickets for students to any film on Monday to Thursday, so we’ll often go there and watch strange, plotty indie films. Then, after a cup of tea and a conversation in the kitchen about the merits and flaws of the movie, I’ll head to bed.
I wake up late so cycle to my lecture rather than walking there. In a break between lectures, I’ll go to a different library on Sidgwick, like the Law or Economics library. After another lecture, I go home for lunch and decide to work in my room for the afternoon, until I have a supervision. Supervisions are one-on-one or small group conversations with an academic about work you’ve produced for them, and so they can leave you with a lot to think about!
After the supervision (or supo) I might go to my college gym, or go to my room and have a nap, or scroll on my phone. On Tuesday evenings I help out with my college’s Art Society. I set up the art supplies at 6pm, get out the easels and the paintbrushes, and paint or draw or collage for a few hours. I cook a late dinner then go to my college library from 9:30pm- 11:30pm. Sometimes I plan to do a late evening library session like this, but it doesn’t always happen: I might chill out in my room instead.
On Wednesday I might find that I have no essential lectures to attend. All English lectures are useful, but some will not be directly relevant to what I am working on. It’s okay to be selective at times in my course. Instead, I go to a cafe to work with friends in the morning, then go home for lunch and take a break. Afterwards, I head to my college’s coffee shop, The Roost. I order an iced coffee (my drink of choice, including in winter) and do some reading for a class at 4pm. The class is like a seminar: a group of students discuss the texts from a period or style of literature. Then I head to the college cafeteria, informally Caff, for a speedy dinner. On Wednesday evenings, I go to the Cambridge Tolkien Society meetings, where we talk about Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, other Tolkien-y works, and have relaxed debates and games. Participation in a society like this is very low commitment, and it’s nice to be able to turn up if you like, but not be obliged to go every week. It’s a good balance to higher commitment societies, such as team sports!
After Tolkien society I’ll meet my friends in the kitchen, and we get ready to go to Wednesday Revs: not every Wednesday, but more than is good for my sleep schedule. Revs is one of Cambridge’s clubs, and its Wednesday nights are regarded as one of the best student nights to go out. We come back around 2:30am, and I fall straight to sleep.
The late night causes me to oversleep and I miss my lecture, so I ask my friend for lecture notes and they kindly send them across. I begrudgingly head to Sidgwick for 11am, get a coffee and sit myself in a secluded place in the EFL which soothes my aching head. An essay is due on Saturday, so I work on that until late afternoon, then go home for a late lunch/ early dinner. My friend is in a play at the ADC (Cambridge’s student theatre), so I go to see their performance. You can watch student productions for free by stewarding them: checking people’s tickets and selling ice-cream at the interval in return for a free ticket to a show. It’s a nifty deal. On a different Thursday night, I might go to a Union debate. The Cambridge Union is a debating society which also hosts guest speakers (Robert De Niro, Dua Lipa, Thomas Brodie-Sangster to name a few recent guests). It is a society that you can get actively involved in, or just attend their events!
First thing on Friday, I post a reminder on the drama society’s socials about the Open Mic Night: it’s tonight! I then get ready to go to a lecture, and quickly prepare the reading for a Practical Criticism class (this is the study of close reading literary extracts). The class is from 12-1pm, leaving me hungry for lunch. I get fish and chips with friends in the college cafeteria, which is a weekly ritual for us. It’s a great way of catching up with those who have been busy during the week. Post fish and chips, I work on my essay due on Saturday: in my room, or on the grass in summer when it’s sunny. To stop the sun from overpowering my laptop screen, I cover it with an umbrella. It looks a bit silly, but it provides some much-needed shade. Otherwise, I enlist the help of a shady tree!
In the evening, it’s the drama society’s Open Mic Night. I realise at about 5:30 that my essay is due tomorrow at 12pm, and it’s not completed. I know it won’t be done in time unless I work on it for all of the evening, but I am needed to help with the Open Mic Night, so I send an email to my supervisor. I ask for an extension, frankly explaining the nature of the situation. My supervisor graciously replies with an extension until 5pm tomorrow. Relieved, I head off to set up the Open Mic at 6:30pm, attend the event, and take lots of photos and videos of the impressive performers! I retreat to bed at 12am.
I wake up at 7am to continue writing the essay in my room, and stop for lunch around 12. After a reinvigorating ham and cheese toastie, I go to the college library for a change of scenery and nestle into a side room with no distractions, creating a super-focused environment. I hand the essay in at around 4pm, turn off my laptop and leave the library: it’s time for a break! My friends are playing tennis at the college court, so I join them for a few hours and we play a few matches. In summer, we might go to the Jesus Green Lido for a swim, which is refreshing in the hot weather, especially because the pool is unheated! I cook dinner–spag bol–and then unwind in my room watching Youtube or Netflix. On a different Saturday, I might go to the JCR (Junior Common Room, a communal social space for students) and talk with my friends, play a board game, or massive Jenga.
No wake-up alarms on Sunday: instead, I have a lie in and wake up at 11:30am. I get brunch with friends at the college cafeteria, and consume an impressive amount of hash browns. Afterwards, I attend a PhoCUS photo-walk; this is an event where you walk around Cambridge and take photos whenever you see something that strikes your interest! It’s a fun, casual way to practise your photography skills. At 2:30pm, I start my reading for my next weekly essay and class. I secure a desk in my college library with lots of space to mind map my ideas and thoughts, to get my bearings on this week’s topics.
I head back to my room at 6:30pm to get ready for formal hall. These are ‘formal’ dinners in college where you can enjoy a three-course meal with friends. The rules vary from college to college but usually as long as you dress reasonably smartly and wear your college gown, you’ll be fine! At Jesus College, formals are very reasonably priced at £11. After the meal, me and my friends head to our college bar and get some themed cocktails, then play an intense game of table football. We leave before midnight, and I get a good night’s sleep, dreaming that my Monday morning lecturer is Lionel Messi.
Written by Helena Howard.