Timetables are in…

So I’ve literally just got my timetable for second year. Now, if you’re a history student or are thinking about studying history you can expect to have between 7 and 9 hours of contact time with lecturers of seminar leaders a week.

This year I have 7 hours a week, and two days off. Obviously my first thoughts were excitement at not having to get up early for two days of the week – sleep is a key priority of mine! I’m sure some of the current freshers have one day off in their weekly timetables and are equally as happy about it.

But  you shouldn’t be deceived by the fact that there are considerably less hours of teaching than you would have experienced at high school or sixth form college. I’m going to be honest with you, studying for a History degree is hard. You have to put in much more work than the little hourly slots on your timetable suggest.

I would strongly advise you to use those spare days or free hours between lectures to do as much reading as possible. Knowledge is such a huge part of history, as is being able to interpret sources, so get yourself down to the David Wilson Library! You should get a reading list for each module you’re taking, just pick a few of the titles from there to get you going.

I wish that I had done more reading around the lecture topics in my first year because I feel like I might be overwhelmed with the work load of second year. So prepare yourself for the hard work ahead!