Friday, 16 May 2014

Finding time to enjoy yourself during exams

Whilst most third years have been rushing around trying to complete dissertations in an eternal state of stress, my last couple of weeks have fortunately been mostly free from such mania. This is because, unlike most degree courses, the dissertation for Physics is completed in the first semester and as such, the several weeks back from Easter have been relatively stress free.

Apart from the constant and seemingly never-ending schedule of revision, I have been working hard to complete my second computer project for the computer programming course I took this semester. I managed to finish it with about a week left before it was due, so thankfully my last coursework deadline of the year didn’t prove to be too problematic! Even though I was apprehensive about this module at first, it turned out to be a great experience and a really useful skill learnt.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I celebrated my twenty-first birthday during the first week back after Easter. On the evening of my birthday I went out to students’ favourite, The Cowherds, with my girlfriend, twin sister and her boyfriend. It was a lovely evening (and pretty good on the present-front) and despite being full up after the meal, we somehow still managed to eat birthday cake once we got home!



Twin birthdays means twin cakes!


My sister and I have a friend who also has her birthday at the end of April, so we decided to have a triple birthday party and head down to Jesters on the first weekend of term. Having a combined birthday is fantastic because it means you get many more people coming, which makes the night that much more enjoyable.

My house mates also went to the trouble of putting up birthday banners and blowing up many balloons, which have provided probably too much childish entertainment in our house. So overall my twenty-first birthday was fantastic and definitely lived up to everything twenty-firsts should be!

On Saturday our house hosted a Eurovision party as a chance for people to relax before the whirlwind of exam season sweeps us all up. Every year my Eurovision-obsessed housemate takes it upon himself to organise the event and this year was no different. Before I came to university I had never watched it or understood its appeal, however after the Eurovision party in my first year, I suddenly understood why it is so popular; it’s hilarious!

I spent a lot of my Saturday afternoon helping my housemate set up for the event. We chose to do it in his bedroom because it is actually bigger than our lounge, which meant re-organising furniture and decorating the walls with flags of all of the countries, which we spent hours making for last year’s party.

It’s important not to get too overwhelmed by coursework and exams during the latter stages of the summer term. Whether it be playing sports, meeting friends or hosting a Eurovision party, make sure you leave time for things that you enjoy over this exam period. Finally, good luck to everyone taking exams!

James

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