Gyan - Week at a glance

I am currently in the third year of my civil engineering degree and this academic year has been significantly different compared to the previous two years. The course has been divided into six modules across two semesters. Individual major project and group design project each worth 30 credits run throughout both semesters while two added modules each worth 15 credits are covered in semester A and semester B.

My week starts with a group meeting with the client as part of the group design project assessment on Monday mornings at 09:00. So, I usually wake up at around 08:00 in the morning. All my lectures and classes are held in the College Lane campus and are only a few minutes walk from my flat as I live in accommodation halls. Most of my lectures and classes start in the morning although there are some slight changes to the timetable each week. On the days when I do not have lectures or classes in the morning, I go to the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to do some work as I find myself more productive working in the library.

The lectures are two hours long, and the tutorials and practical sessions are usually about an hour long. Before attending the lectures, I go through the lecture slides whenever possible. I have found this to be especially useful in helping me to get a better understanding of the topic. Additionally, there are various activities in which I actively take part such as presentations, group discussions, quizzes, and mock tests. Every now and then, there are talks and seminars on relevant topics from experts and industry professionals and I try my best to attend these when possible.

As there are fewer lectures and classes this year, I am usually free during 12:00 to 14:00. During this time, I return to my flat to have lunch. Occasionally, I head over to the canteen in the Forum whenever I am feeling too lazy to prepare my lunch. If there are no lectures or classes in the afternoon, I usually spend my time in the library doing an independent study or working with my friends for the group project. We usually do this by booking a group study room in the library where we sit down as a group and work together and prepare for the next client meeting.

After a long day, I usually wind down in the evening. I prepare my dinner at around 19:00 and relax for a few hours before going to bed unless I have some urgent work such as upcoming deadlines for assignments.

Since there are no lectures for individual major project and group design project modules, they require a lot of independent study/research. I give a specific day of the week for focusing solely on my individual project. Each week, I spend some time planning for the week ahead to tackle the overwhelming workload. Depending on my weekly timetable and assignment deadlines, I set out a plan. This helps me to track and check the progress for each assignment as well as make necessary adjustments. I believe proper planning and good time management is the key as completing the assignments can be quite challenging.