A week in the life of a Public Health student: Part 1

Today, I want to share some insights into my weekly life as a BSc Public Health student at ARU.

You might expect that I will tell you that I wake up at 6am, go for a run and have my morning coffee in the park. I am going to tell you straight away, no! I, probably, like most of the students, wake up with the feeling, ohh no, Monday… But usually, it happens only in the morning after I get out of bed and my exciting daily life begins.

Lectures

On Monday and Tuesday, I have lectures. Sometimes I do have lectures online, sometimes face to face depending on the schedule. But being honest, I much prefer when lectures are face to face.

Currently, I have finished the two last modules of my degree, Strategies to Enhance Health and Engagement in the Public Health Community. It was a busy time for me, with many studies, preparation for assignments and long times in the library.

Food

I have a separate section for food because it is very important to me.

Usually, I try to prepare some food at home so I would have lunch during my day at university. The problem is that I am always hungry, so I need to prepare a lot of food and snacks to survive during the day.

I am trying to balance my diet and cook healthy stuff at home. Most of the time, I would have different variations of chicken or fish with vegetables or something similar, and for snacks, I would have different fruits and sandwiches.

If I didn’t prepare anything at home, I would have lunch in the university’s canteen or in town with my friends.

Placement

In my final year, I need to get a placement, which each student needs to find themselves.

I am undertaking my placement at ARU School of Medicine, where I am doing my research project on Antimicrobial Resistance. I have several meetings during the week with my supervisor, with whom we discuss our progress, aims and what has to be done next.

Besides our meetings, I have to do quite a lot of work during the week. Depending on the stage of the project, I am doing various things. For example, this week, I have been working on an ethics application for a research project. I needed to prepare the application and have a few meetings with ethicists to address all aspects.

Work

Everyone who knows me would say 'David works a lot'. I am involved in several jobs at the University.

First of all, I am working in the Student Union, where we help students with various issues, hosting events for them, and helping with societies' organisation.

My favourite task for which I am responsible is to host Karaoke events. I love to do it because, during my work, I am also enjoying my time being around other students and enjoying the evening.

Secondly, I work as an Employability Activator. My main task is to promote employability for students. Often, we need to create different posts, videos and other content which is distributed on social media. We often have meetings with other employability team staff and activators where we develop different projects and ideas.

And finally, I do many more other temporary jobs, such as Student Ambassador, working for different events for various roles and even writing this blog.

I have so much to tell you, but I can’t fit everything into one blog. Next, you can check the second part of this blog, where I will share more interesting insights about free time activity, how I got an internship, and what sports I do on campus.

Deividas is studying Public Health at ARU in Chelmsford. To find out more about our degree courses and student life at ARU, book your place at an Open Day.