A day in the life…

Undergraduate student Jack Ferguson tells us what a typical day in the life of a Physical Education BA(Hons) with QTS student is like…

“Life as a university student is very different to that as a school student. Whereas school life doesn’t offer much in the way of freedom and flexibility in your day to day routine, at uni you have much more control and responsibility over how you spend your time.

“How much time you have free or assigned to lectures will depend on your degree but this outlines a typical day as a PE with QTS undergrad.

“Personally with my degree I don’t have lots of contact time taken up with lectures. Therefore how I arrange my time is largely down to my personal preference.

“I’ll normally get up early and make my way to uni for about 9am, regardless of whether I have a 9am lecture or not. I’ll attend lectures if I have them otherwise I’ll go to the gym. I enjoy going to the gym regularly and this adds good structure to my day.

“Depending on lectures, I’ll normally spend either the morning or afternoon at uni. Towards the end of a semester I’ll dedicate more time to going to the library in between lectures but towards the start of semesters when work load is lighter, I typically have slightly more free time allowing me to go food shopping or go into town in the afternoon. Evenings are then spent socialising with house mates, attending extra curricular events, completing non-contact work, going to work or just relaxing!

“The benefit to the non-timetabled slots on my degree allows me to develop my physical literacy. I am able to practice skills as a performer that will allow me to demonstrate in front of a class with more confidence, practice routines that will be assessed as part of the gymnastics or dance modules, and practice my teaching ahead of teaching assessments. The course is designed in a way to allow you to practice what you’ve learnt in lectures in your free time prior to heading out and teaching in schools.

“The great thing about uni is that not one day will be the same. There is always something going on, with last minute spontaneous plans not an unusual occurrence!

“It is a good idea to follow some form of structure and not neglect your work but equally find time to have fun and take opportunities as they come.”