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A Day in the Life of an European & International Social & Political Studies Student | UCL Arts & Humanities
By UCL Faculty of Arts & Humanities, on 3 February 2025
UCL European & International Social & Political Studies student Stella Kemppi, shares what a typical day in her life looks like studying the European Social & Political Studies BA.
One of my favourite aspects of my degree is the variety of subjects and the opportunity to learn with students from other departments. As a European Social and Political Studies (ESPS) student, my timetable looks nothing like my peers. We all major in different languages (me in French and German) and specialize in different fields (in my case, IR), meaning we can take modules with EISPS, SELCS, geography, law, and many more departments.
My timetable varies each year, depending on requirements and availability, but this is what a Tuesday in the first term of my final year (!!!) typically looks like.
8:00-9:00: I usually wake up at 8, even if I have a later start. I’m very slow in the mornings and need enough time to get ready.
9:00-10:00: I’m fortunate enough to live in central London, but it still takes me 40 minutes to walk to uni. I don’t mind walking because I save the cost of a TfL ticket, and it gives me time to listen to music or talk to friends and enjoy some fresh air.
10:00-11:00: I like arriving an hour before my lecture to finish some last-minute work or get ahead on readings.
11:00-13:00: My ‘Principles of Public International Law’ module is a lecture-seminar combined, and although it wasn’t in my original choice of modules, it has become one of my favourite courses.
13:00-14:00: Straight after, I have my ‘French Oral 3’ class. Luckily, it’s in the same building.
14:00-16:00: I meet my friends for lunch in the SELCs common room. During these two hours, we prepare for our next course or worry about master’s applications. Although intense, I look forward to sharing the stress with my friends.
16:00-18:00: As final-year EISPS students, we write a dissertation (yikes, I know). Part of the process is a presentation. Every week, we hear from our peers about their topics (which are all so different btw). The class is great because it’s one of the only times most of the cohort is together, and since we were all abroad last year, it’s nice to catch up/see new faces.
18:00-20:00: Uni is officially over for the day, and it has become a weekly tradition for us to go to the pub after class. My friends and I head to one of the (many) Student Union pubs (so much cheaper) to have a pint and chill.
20:00-23:00: I typically get home after 8 and will catch up with my flatmate over dinner. I then try my best to get ready and be in bed by 11.
I know it seems like I didn’t study much (even if it’s my most contact-heavy day), but it’s so important to find time to have fun. And no worries, I don’t have classes on Wednesdays, so I get to spend my day in the library 🙂
This blog is an example of one day in the life of a student at UCL. Each day looks different for each student depending on the programme, department, year of study, timetable and modules chosen. Head to our online prospectus to find out more about our programmes.