A day in the life of an English student

Hello, my name is Aurora! I’m a first-year English with Creative Writing student. I’m taking you with me for a day in my life to help you get to know the course and the University of Nottingham better.

I hope to see you here soon! 

7 am: My day begins 

Wake up. I Journal: my dreams, what I’m grateful for, daily affirmations. Breakfast.  

9am: 'Creative Writing Practice' lecture, Sir Clive Granger building 

Today’s lecture is on short story structure. Our cohort is smaller and more intimate than most lectures. We analyse The Sea In Me by Krishan Coupland, a story featuring a young girl gradually transforming into a mermaid, escaping the pressures of her controlling mother.

I’m inspired by the blunt tone and ambiguity between the literal and metaphorical. We follow up with an exercise on creating narrative conflict. 

10am: 'Studying Literature' lecture, Law and Social Sciences building

This lecture is on The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. We learn about Oscar Wilde’s career, and I lean in to listen with empathy to his scandals and incarceration for having a male lover, the critics of aestheticism and the cartoons published deriding him. 

We have a few pauses throughout to discuss our thoughts with each other: we make arguments for different readings of the novel as Gothic, satirical, high art, or philosophical. 

The Law and Social Sciences building is warm. My friends and I always sit on the left side. I rest my head against the wall as I type out my notes. Our lecturer gives us a 10-minute break between hours to stretch. 

12pm: Coffee with my friend in Portland Building 

The café reverberates with chatter. I order a caramel latte, and my friend gets a macchiato. We agree it’s the best coffee shop we’ve been to and share our poetry with each other.

We then move to an empty table in the Monica Partridge Building. We spread out our things and do some preparatory reading for our upcoming seminar on second language acquisition for our 'Studying Language' module. She teaches me some Vietnamese and we laugh at my bad accent.  

4.30pm: Walk home 

I walk the long way home to breathe in the fresh, cold air and admire the passing geese on campus. The sun is setting beautifully on the downs. I’m inspired, and write a few lines of poetry in my Notes App. An image of a woman rising from a sunset lake comes to mind - I'll turn her into a story later. I always make time to do creative writing in the hours between lectures.

5.30pm: Dinner 

I eat some yummy churros with a few friends.  

7-9pm: Art Society life drawing session 

Our monthly life drawing session. Seeing the model undress is only scary for the first few seconds, then everything flows naturally. Everyone is calm and focused. Soft lo-fi music plays in the background to the scratching of pencils and alcohol markers. 

I thank the model. The group stands and walks around the room, admiring everyone’s work, talking and complimenting each other. 

10pm: Wind down 

Yoga, wash face and sleep!