Monday 

Mondays are (strangely) my favourite day of the week! I only have a 2pm lecture, but I still wake up at 8am so that I can start my day. I showered, ate breakfast, then left my halls at around 9.30am so that I could go to the library. I try to do a “10-5” on campus on weekdays (other than Wednesdays), so that if I’m not in the lecture, I’m in the library, catching up on readings or starting coursework. This works best for me so that I can have free evenings and weekends. I recently discovered the Mansfield Cooper building has a nice, quiet library, so I do my Tuesday readings here, eat a solitary lunch in the ground floor common area (this week I had jollof rice), then head back upstairs for the lecture. We are doing a Statistics for quantitative analysis module this semester, which so far, I am really enjoying (even though it is still GCSE content). I didn’t take maths A-Level, but the lecturer explains concepts well, so I’m sure it will be fine. The lecture finished at 4pm, but I decided that an extra hour in the library wasn’t necessary and instead, followed my friend on her food shop.  

Tuesday 

Tuesdays are my longest days – I have a back-to-back lecture and tutorial for our Current Issues module, which is 3 hours in the same room, then a 4-5pm tutorial for Monday’s lecture. The morning classes were interesting – we discussed how gender justice is an integral part of climate justice, analysing how global action has been transformed due to feminist perspectives. Me and some course mates went to eat our lunch in the nearby Pret. The evening tutorial was called off because of logistical issues, so I went to the library to do my Wednesday reading. After dinner, I had a chill evening; watching some YouTube videos and reading my Bible. 

Wednesday 

Wednesday brings the dreaded 9am. To be honest, it isn’t that bad (but half the class still doesn’t turn up). I went to meet one of my lecturers from last semester to get feedback on an assignment, since we have something similar this semester. I take Wednesdays as my free day to do laundry and tidy my room (and nap), so I went home straight after.  

Tonight was the AFCON semi-final (Nigeria vs South Africa)! The Nigerian Society was hosting a watch-party in the Student Union 532 bar, so we went there. Thank God we won (it was inevitable) so we were in the finals! This was the highlight of my week. I bought my dinner at 532’s because I was missing my hall’s mealtimes (I live in catered accommodation) – I had a chicken flatbread. They have student pricing, yummy food, and good non-alcoholic options. 

I attend the weekly street dance society with another friend, so I met with her at 8pm to walk to Fallowfield. I’m not the best at learning choreography in the short sessions, but it is still fun to get in some exercise. I went over to her place afterwards to cook her dinner together and got back quite late, so I only read my Bible and went straight to bed.  

Thursday and Friday 

I only have one 1-hour class on each of these days, so my routine is basically the same. Wake up, shower, breakfast and straight to class, then a 4-hour library session, where I tackle my reflective portfolio entries. This is coursework for one of my modules to help us build our critical thinking skills. But this Thursday, we had no lecture because of the field trip in the afternoon. We visited Quarry Bank Mills to learn about the origins of capitalism. It was nice to see historical evidence of Manchester’s critical role in global industrialisation. After the trip I rushed home to eat in the dining hall because I had athletics training. There are sprint sessions twice a week, so I usually try and do both. Today, we were doing plyometrics. It was a relatively easy session since most people were cooling down from the competition the day before. My friend drove me home, and that was Thursday. 

On Friday, we went to watch Take Me Out, joint hosted by the Afro-Caribbean Societies of UoM, MMU and Uni of Salford. I had been looking forward to this for the past few weeks. I would recommend ACS events, they’re always a fun time. I was debating going to the afterparty, but decided against it and went to a friend’s place for cards and snacks. 

The weekend 

I started my Saturday with a food shop. Since I’m in catered halls I only buy food for lunch which saves me a lot of money. Tesco and Lidl are just around the corner, which is great. I stocked my fridge and got ready for the day. That day was Chinese New Year, so in the evening we went to catch the end of the dragon parade and eat some street food in town. 

On Sunday I went to Church. Building my Faith is always important and it’s nice to have a community of like-minded people. After a powerful service, we walked home and ate dinner. I made my lunch for the week and then prepared for the week ahead. 

Written by Chi-Chi, a current BSc Global Development student

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