If you are interested to see what a day in the life of a student at this prestigious university looks like, take a look at these rare sneak peeks shared by an Australian student studying here.
Shani is expected to attend eight hours of lectures every week. However, it’s Easter Term — otherwise known as Exam Term — which means there aren’t any lectures, so Shani can wake up later than normal at about 9 a.m. She lives in college accommodation with 25 other students right in the centre of Cambridge. You’ll see that the board is customised to show each student’s name — very posh.
This is her room. Although a cooked breakfast is provided for students in the university’s dining halls, Shani has a fridge in her room and a kitchen right opposite, meaning she can start the day from the comfort of her own room.
Her accommodation isn’t too dissimilar to the accommodation you can expect to find at other universities in the UK.
This is one of the halls where students can go if they don’t feel like cooking for themselves.
But it’s no wonder she prefers to eat breakfast at home — she’s got a great view out of her window of the 420-year-old Sidney Sussex college.
Breakfast is done, and while there may not be lectures today, there’s still work to be done. Usually, work is done in the library…
… But since it’s a beautiful day, Shani takes her laptop with her to the Great Court and sits and works on the fountain which dates back to the 1400′s.
By 11:30 a.m, she’s done about two hours of work. Working in such a beautiful setting is certainly inspiring.
This is the home of Cambridge’s faculty of law — one of the world’s leading law schools and also where some of Shani’s lectures take place when there are no exams. The faculty comprises roughly 700 undergraduates.
Lecture theatres like these are scattered throughout the university’s campus. This particular theatre is used for a lot of special events and students fill rooms like these to expand their minds.
It’s time for a coffee break. The college bar — located in a staircase just off Great Court — has recently begun making delicious frappes.
Shani often stays in the bar to do more work — it’s quite quiet and the chairs are incredibly comfortable. Today, she’s memorising case names in preparation for exams.
By 2 p.m, it’s back to her room to change and meet up with friends on campus. Wherever you’re going in Cambridge, the town is beautiful. St John’s College Chapel is visible as she walks back to her room. The chapel is where the world-famous College Choir perform.
Everyone is always busy with different activities, so you need to plan ahead to catch up with everyone. Today, Shani and some of her friends have decided to go for High Tea at one of Cambridge’s many tearooms.
Scones and tea — how very English! Hall food can sometimes get repetitive, so Shani and her friends like to try the various tea rooms around the city.
Having all her friends close by is one of Shani’s favourite things about living in college. This is a very international high tea, with four different continents represented. Over 11% — around 1,300 — of all Cambridge undergraduates are from overseas.
After high tea, it’s back to her room. Luckily it’s quiet today, but sometimes it’s difficult to get to the gate because there are so many tourists crowded around.
Shani needs to get her laptop and books from her room for a supervision. Supervisions are compulsory and are the primary way Cambridge students learn. They’re teaching sessions for small groups of students where a Fellow leads a discussion.
This is Shani’s last tort supervision for the year and as it’s a beautiful day, it’s being held outside on this lawn.
Shani’s both excited and relieved to have finished an entire year of her Law course. Each supervision takes about 20 hours of work to prepare for and this is the tenth supervision — that’s a lot of work.
Looking at the beautiful old buildings makes a difficult but interesting supervision even better. Shani’s supervisor likes to ask difficult questions and one of his favourite sayings is “No looksies downsies, only thinksies aboutsies,” which means no looking up things you’ve forgotten!
After the supervision, which finishes at 4:30 p.m, Shani has to run to the Cambridge Union for a meeting in the bar there. Fortunately, it’s only a five-minute walk from her college so Shani doesn’t have to go far.
As well as being a meeting place for students, The Union is also home to the world’s oldest continually running debating society and is laid out like parliament, so opposing sides can face each other.
The university’s campus is packed full with rich history. This is Christ’s College’s main hall and it still retains many of its original features including stained glass windows and dark wood panelling.
The architecture on campus is as grand as it is old. This is the Old Hall which belongs to Queen’s College. It seats up to 114 people and was built in 1429. It’s used for special functions.
After the meeting at The Union, Shani’s back in her room to get ready for Formal — and she has plenty of shoes to choose from. Each college holds formal dinners which are attended by undergraduates and their guests. After nearly a year at Cambridge, Shani has become much quicker at getting ready for formal. She needs to be ready for 7:30pm to line up and get good seats.
Everyone wears gowns to formals. Each college has a different gown – Trinity undergraduates wear navy gowns.
After formal, Shani and her friends sometimes go out to one of the clubs in Cambridge. Tonight, though, they’re having a quieter night and hanging out in a friend’s room — bubbly included.
At about midnight, Shani gets back to her room to get enough sleep so she can wake up and do it all again tomorrow.
