Hi everyone! My name is Sarah and I am in my second year of the Life Science Major program here at Queen’s. I was interested in what an actual day looked like for a student in my prospective program when I was applying to universities, so I figured I would share with you what one of my days looks like.
The day I chose to write about is the Monday in week 9 of first semester. We are getting close to the end of the semester, but I still have one more midterm (my in-lab anatomy bell-ringer, which is coming up this Saturday). Monday is my busiest day of the week and I am on campus from 9:30am to 8:30pm. My other days are not as long (on Tuesdays, I don’t even have to go to campus for any classes), but I figured it was the most interesting day to read about.
8:15am — I woke up and had some breakfast, then I made my lunch to take with me to campus (I knew I wouldn’t have time to come home for lunch on this day), and got ready to go.
8:55am — I caught the bus to get to my 9:30 class on campus. The bus stop is just a few minutes away from my apartment, so it is pretty convenient. The bus drops me off at the north part of campus, so I have to walk down to the Biosciences Complex building for my first class.
9:30am — I had my biochemistry lecture (BCHM 218) and today the topic was chromosome packaging, in other words, how the different levels of DNA organization help all of your genetic material fit into the tiny nuclei in your body’s cells). Each lecture ends 10 minutes before the end of the block to let you get to your next class. For example, my biochemistry class runs from 9:30am to 10:30am, but we are done at 10:20am, and my 11:30am to 1:00pm class is done at 12:50pm.
10:30am — I had an hour break between biochemistry and my next class, so I went to the Starbucks in Mitchell Hall with some of my friends and got a drink.
11:30am — My next lecture was my Indigenous Events and Cultural Politics class (LLCU 270) in Kingston Hall; it’s my elective this semester. Today we discussed the readings we did for the week on Residential Schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and talked about how they connect to the other topics we have covered so far.
1:00pm — Then I had an appointment at Student Wellness Services, so I went back to Mitchell Hall, where they are located.
2:00pm — After my appointment, I found a seat in Mitchell where I could eat the lunch I packed and get some work done before my next class. I did some studying for anatomy and then some of my organic chemistry online assignment.
3:30pm — I had my organic chemistry lecture (CHEM 281) in Dunning auditorium and today we continued on substitution and elimination reactions.
4:30pm — My next lecture was anatomy (ANAT 215) in Ellis Hall. Today’s lecture topic was bones of the upper limb. I would say that my favourite class I’m taking this semester is anatomy. The professor is engaging in lectures and cares that we are learning, and the TAs in the labs are really great too. At our first lab, I wasn’t expecting that we would be working with cadavers for hands-on learning in second year, but it is a really great opportunity to actually see what we are learning in class.
5:30pm — After anatomy, I went with one of my friends back to Mitchell Hall (where our next class is) and worked on some anatomy readings.
6:30pm — My last class today was physiology (PHGY 215). This year, the course is set up so that we do the modules covering the material independently and then we have 2-hour “active learning sessions” once a week. We work in groups of 4 on collaborative case study questions that are submitted for marks. Today’s research case study covered material on the peripheral nervous system and muscle physiology.
8:30pm — Now that I was finally done on campus for the day, I walked home with my roommate (who is also in Life Science, so we have quite a few classes together). Our apartment is about a 20 minute walk from campus when we don’t feel like taking the bus or it doesn’t line up with our schedules.
9:00pm — When I got home, I had some leftovers for dinner, took a shower, and called my parents to talk for a bit.
10:00pm — Since we had such a long day on campus, my roommates and I decided to take it easy and watch some TV before going to bed.
11:00pm — I was pretty tired after my day, so I got ready for bed (luckily, I didn’t have to wake up early for classes on Tuesday so I also got to sleep in a bit).
So that's how my Monday went. Something I like about university is how your schedule can be different every day, so I have a super long day on Monday, kind of medium days on Wednesday and Thursday, but only one lecture on Friday, and nothing on Tuesday. Next semester will be different as well, because my days are more evenly spread out lecture-wise but I have two labs on Thursdays.
I hope it was helpful to see a look into what a day looks like for me this semester. If you have any questions about Queen's or Life Sci, feel free to reach out to my email: 20srla@queensu.ca.
Author:
Sarah Arnold, she/they
Life Sciences Major at Queen's University