A Day in My Life as a Dual Degree Student in Biology and Business Administration
College life can be busy and challenging because everyone takes different classes and has a different schedule. In this blog, I will talk about a day in my life as a dual-degree student in Biology and Business Administration, with a minor in Healthcare Administration, and as a member of the Honor Program and College2Career Scholar. This semester, I am taking seven different courses, totaling 21 credit hours.
I usually start my day at around 5 a.m. I like to start by making my bed and then by opening Google Calendar to see what I need to do today and what my schedule will look like. Every morning, I do the same thing: I look at my calendar, and then I begin to study by sitting and reviewing my flashcards. The length of my studying depends on what set of cards I review, but I usually review around 200 to 300 flashcards every morning. This takes about one hour to finish, but some days I have more than 1,000 flashcards for the exam (I know this is a lot, but I take breaks between them). I really enjoy learning by reviewing flashcards, since it involves recall and repetition. I have been doing this since my sophomore year, and it works very well.
After I am done with my flashcards, I like to video call my parents back in Cambodia and my lovely niece. Cambodia is 11 hours ahead of our time zone, which is why I can only call them in the morning or evening. This call is very important to me because it makes me feel connected to them, even though we live apart. After that, I begin cooking my breakfast and doing some laundry if needed. After I finish breakfast or laundry, I start on whatever task I put on my Google Calendar and review some material before classes.
My class schedule is very uneven; some days I have 2 classes, some days I have only 1, and sometimes I have 1 class and 1 lab. I am also a student worker on campus. This semester, I work every Tuesday and Thursday, 4-5 hours each day. After I am done with class (which is the favourite part of the day), I come back to my apartment, review the class material, and start making flashcards for what I just learned. Most of my classes this semester are in the morning; the earliest is at 9:45 a.m., and I’m usually done by 1:25 p.m., except on Thursday, when I have a lab until 4 p.m. In addition to class, I have mandatory meetings with my supervisor, as I serve as a Resident Assistant (RA) on campus. Being on RA and taking on additional responsibilities during the week, I try my best to keep checking in with my residents, create events or programming on my floor, and stay connected with each and every one of them as much as I can.
Other than classes, I have another favorite thing to do: fencing. I just started fencing a couple of months ago, and I absolutely love it since it is also a way for me to take a break from school and take care of myself as well as my mental health, and also make new friends and compete with them. I usually fence off-campus. I fence 4 days a week, usually from 7-9 p.m., then come back to my apartment and get some sleep for the next day.
I have a habit of trying to get everything done during the week, usually by 4 p.m. on Friday, so I can enjoy Friday night. I have an off-campus internship this semester at a hospital, where I work in the Critical Care Medicine department. This internship has helped me tremendously with my future career goal in medicine. I have a completely different schedule since I usually have one 12-hour shift and one 8-hour shift. I wake up around 3:45 a.m. on Saturday as my shift starts at around 6 a.m. and finishes around 6 or 7 p.m., and on Sunday, I wake up at the same time as Saturday but my shift finishes at 3 p.m. which allows me to have time to go and buy some groceries and do some meal prep before class begin again for the next day.
As I mentioned earlier, college life can be challenging, but I think it largely depends on how you make the most of it. We all have 24 hours in a day, and we achieve different things in life; we all have different goals for what we want to do. Keep working hard and believe in yourself.
