The Girl with the Goalden Boot

Thursday, March 25, 2004

 

THE LIFE OF A SCIENCE STUDENT

Four weeks of uni are nearly over. I'm not passionate about what I do in uni, but somehow it's not as bad as the previous 3 weeks. Maybe I'm finally getting used to the routine of at least one test per week, and those tortuous 2-6pm labs every Wed, Thu and Fri. (I'll never get used to writing reports/essays though!) Dunno what happened, it's just not as bad anymore.

You know what pisses me off the most? I get pissed off at people who complain about 9am classes once a week, and that they have a 10-hr week, and they think it isn't right when they have 3 or 4 hours straight of classes. I'm sorry if I've offended some people here, but next time you complain, please be considerate of the poor science students you may be standing next to any minute on campus, on the bus or on the train. Believe it or not, here are the possibilities of our timetables:

* 9am-8pm on a Wed with only a one hour break
* 9am classes five days a week
* 20+ hrs per week
* 4 hr-long labs 3 or 4 times a week

And if you think we have more contact hours just because we have less readings or projects to do, please think again. We have AT LEAST one test per week, lab reports to write, group and individual presentations, on top of reading our textbooks and research journal articles.

I'm not complaining. I feel blessed that I have only 20 hours a week. Yep, you read correctly, I feel blessed I have 20 hours a week! The point of outlining what some of us science students go through week in week out is to create awareness. So to our fellow non-science students out there, feel lucky that you rock up to uni less than 20 hours a week, feel lucky that you don't have to carry a heavy load (labcoat + lab manuals) on your back, and please consider others.

Lola Nadal 11:18 PM