Christmas In The Air

It’s wonderful. Simply amazing. That feeling that you get when you see colourful tinsel and bright baubles slowly emerging from their years worth of hibernation in dark boxes and dusty corners and the mornings are white with frost. It’s a cumulative effect really, like an avalanche starting with just one pebble. I think it was on Tuesday when I saw my first Christmas tree of the year. It seemed pretty lonely, illuminated in a darkened lecturers office and as I caught sight of it on my way to a lecture (doing the half walking / half running thing I do when I’m running late) I couldn’t help but smile to myself with the thought of snow and hot chocolate running through my mind.

So that was Tuesday, and since then I have seen at least 6 other fully fledged decorated Christmas trees and various other decorations on campus by peeking through windows and doors (not something I do habitually I must point out). Soon there will be some sort of reminder of Christmas wherever I look! The shops in the students union have already started to offer their annual Christmas discounts and without doubt there will be emails and flyers from other service on campus advertising their services. I especially love the 9am lectures when it comes round to December time, as you get to see fellow students with red noses fumbling around with numb fingers as they prepare for an hour of learning. Although it is a festive time of the year, there is an element of sadness associated with these holidays for students. If you’re living in halls you may be returning home for 2 weeks to restock your supply of clean clothes and to provide some actual nourishment for your body in the form of home cooked dinners. Even if you do not delight in these things (possibly because you are a commuting student or because you actually do know how to use a washing machine and a stove – surprisingly a large number of students fall into this category challenging stereotypical views), the thought of having 2 weeks lecture free with no looming deadlines is bound to lighten your spirits.

However, with these benefits I always find myself feeling an undercurrent of nervousness because I know that as soon as the two weeks end and the new year begins, it will be the dreaded exam period and the lectures and textbooks will pile up along with the empty coffee mugs and my feelings of despair. No matter how much I prepare for the exams and try extremely hard to actually stick to my revision timetable, I find myself feeling slightly unprepared the night before the exam. Maybe it’s just the nerves or maybe it’s my consciousness telling me I’ve not done enough revision, I don’t know. But this year I have promised myself to do everything I can to make sure I am as well prepared as I can possibly be. I have even booked a place for myself on one of the revision courses the university’s student development service provides. You can have a look at what revision workshops they offer

For this following week, I have two tutorials to prepare for (one for Physiology and Pharmacology and the other for Molecular Cell Bilgy), two practical write ups to do (one for Metabolic Regulation and the other for Molecular Cell Biology again) and I have a presentation to give on Ghrelin, the hunger hormone. So despite it being the last week of term the workload is not easing up which is a shame as I could have made good use of the free time before the holidays to get my notes in order and clarify certain topic areas that I am not so sure about. But I guess the only way to get through the following weeks and emerge successful on the other side is to work steadily throughout the holidays and hopefully I will learn some useful revision techniques at the workshop which I can apply.

Until I can though, I will be enjoying the Christmas decorations and making the most of the festive period whilst I can.