This is quite a busy day in my life -- some are quieter and some are busier (yes, it can get busier than this!!) but this was quite a nice full day of both academics and fun stuff.
8:15 (more like 8:30 lol) – wake up, brush teeth, jump in shower, get dressed and run to Plodge (Porters Lodge) to meet the other three 2nd year biochemists at Somerville College (my college). We then walk to the science area which is about a 5-minute walk from Somerville…SO ideal. I will also munch on an apple or banana for breakfast on the way.
9:00 -9:55 – Lecture in the Anatomy lecture theatre for our ‘Structure and Function of Macromolecules’ lecture series. Today we were learning about protein purification. We quite often have 9am lectures but I like it as it gets me up in the morning and ensures I have a productive (ish) day.
10:00 – 10:55 – We stayed in the same lecture theatre for another lecture in this module but this time it was about X-Ray crystallography. We get given printed handouts so I normally like to take notes on these then type up my notes from the lecture with further reading I have done after lectures. If you want a post on how I make my uni notes, comment below.
11:00 - 16:30 – Labssssss. After the 10am lecture finished we walked down to the Biochemistry Teaching Centre. We got our lab coats on and signed in. This was the first day of three 6 hour lab sessions (in 2nd year we have two practicals a term). This was quite a tricky practical as we had to design the assays ourselves which took a lot of brainpower, trial and error, and time. Luckily, my lab partner is also my best friend so we powered through the hell together lol. We stopped about 1:30 for a lunch break. Some people got a Maccies delivered to the labs common area – honestly iconic. I actually like that we have labs because it gives us a chance to get to know other biochemists in our year – we are quite a tight subject group because of this.
17:00 – 18:00 – Tutorial in college. In this tute (what Ox students call Tutorials for short) there was just two of us students and the tutor. This is a personal way of learning and I LOVE IT. Such a big perk of Oxford (and Cambridge). Today we were going over an essay we had written the week before about DNA-Protein interactions. We struggled with some of the concepts so our tutor went over those to clear things up, he then gave us feedback on our essay which was super useful. The rest of the tutorial was spent with our tutor trying to make us think deeply about the topic – why are the interactions important? How and why do they differ from RNA-protein interactions? It really gets us critically analysing the topic to ensure we fully understand it. This is what tutorials are for.
18:00 – 18:45 – Have some dinner. Tonight I was in a rush so I went to our college dining hall. Our dining hall is so pretty and quite Harry Potter-esque. Somerville College dining hall serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekdays and brunch (my one true love) and dinner on weekends. You will often see people trudging to brunch hungover on weekends – it truly is the ultimate hangover cure. After dinner I ran back to my room, got changed and printed off my music for my next activity.
19:00 – 21:00 – A capella Rehearsal at Worcester College. Yes, it’s like Pitch Perfect. I auditioned for The Oxford Alternotives (the oldest student a capella group in the UK) this year and have been LOVING it. We rehearse twice a week and each rehearsal lasts two hours. This week we were rehearsing for an upcoming gig and for the ICCAs (the Pitch Perfect competition). Such a FUN thing to do alongside my degree.
21:30 – 23:00 – the most important time of the day = Pub time! My friends and I went to our favourite pub, The Jericho Tavern, for some drinks. The pub has some board games too so we played a few (very competitive and high-pressured) rounds of Articulate. This is always so much fun.
23:30 – Get ready for bed, brush teeth etc.
00:00 – Sleeeeeep ready for another crazy day.
I didn’t get time to do much independent study on this day BUT I have other quieter days which I use to power through some work. Comment below and questions and whether you would like some more posts like these.
Big love, Maz xxx
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