A day in the life of a Crime and Investigative Studies student

Life as a Crime and Investigative Studies student is interesting and diverse. My first years were spent in Cambridge.

In Cambridge, my day would start with a cup of tea, a shower, breakfast and a browse through social media. I would always try to meet my friends by the main buildings so we could head to our lecture together.

Since our schedule was quite diverse, no day was the same. I would go to various types of lectures and practical sessions. There’s sometimes time between your sessions too, you can do social things with your friends, look around shops, catch up on some time in the library, or even go home for lunch (or a nap, if you’re like me!)

During lectures, I would always bring my laptop and take notes on it as it was easier for me to document rather than using a notebook. Taking notes is very important and I suggest that all of you make sure to document what you think is important during your lectures because that will come in handy once you start working on your assignments/prepare for your tests.

Throughout the lectures our teachers would ask questions and it felt very engaging, almost like a professional conversation. The same applied for our practical sessions. We would either be split into teams or work individually in the lab, examining some sort of evidence or gathering evidence at a crime scene.

During these sessions, we would be given instructions by the instructors and their assistants. It was a very exciting experience. It isn’t always easy, I particularly struggled with the chemistry practical as it was really complex, and I was the last person to exit those sessions which made me worried. But good news, I was able to pass that difficult period and I still love my course, despite the challenges – it wouldn’t be a degree without some challenges, right?

My advice in those circumstances is to always seek support from your personal tutor (you will be assigned one of these from your faculty when you start at ARU). Their job is to help you out and support you academically. It can be about writing assignments or about the content of your course – they will be able to help and keep you on track.

Nick is a Crime and Investigative Studies student at ARU in Cambridge. Find out more about this, and other degree courses, at one of our Open Days.