… by Mike / from Greece / MSc Statistics with Data Science / PG (2020-21)
Hello there!
My name is Mike, I am from the lovely country of Greece and currently am an MSc Statistics with Data Science student at The University of Edinburgh. In this post I will try to describe what my typical, more relaxed, work days as a PGT student look like.
10am: As any other person, I have my breakfast when I wake up, which is mostly pre-prepared and usually consists of omelettes with beans or whey & yogurt with oats plus cold brew coffee (pretty strong by the way!). This gives me a few extra time to play a little bit of guitar, a hobby I started during quarantine, or start working on assignments right away without having to worry about cooking and washing loads of dishes.
12pm: Study time! My routine starts with checking which course has the earliest deadline and start working on completing any unfinished material. Keep in mind that the constant workload requires you to have a steady routine, when it comes to studying, and follow certain daily tasks if you want to keep up with the pace of the courses. I have learned late in my year that keeping a diary and visualising my tasks can greatly help with managing my time. The good thing is that most of my courses were pre-recorded, so it was up to me to organise a flexible schedule, suited to my needs.
6pm (optional): Although gyms were closed for most of the year, on less busy days I tried to spend some time working out outside or even taking a relaxing stroll around the city, which has so many lovely hiking paths and beautiful sceneries to offer.
8pm: My lunch and snacks are also usually premade so, if there is no food for the next couple of days, this is the time to do it. 😂 This gives me extra time to focus on studying, plus, when I really do not have to worry about food, gives me the pleasure of cooking out of pure enjoyment. Thus, I can try more complicated and time-consuming recipes (such as home-made calzones, pumpkin/spinach pies, Greek moussaka and homemade burgers). These go great with a movie by the way.
11pm: If I am satisfied with the amount of work I have done; I reserve the last hours of my day playing a game (huge fan of The Witcher 3!!! Do not start it during your MSc though…), watching a short movie or even taking a night stroll, if I haven’t been outside for the whole day (there are busy days as well when this can happen). My advice would be to find any activity that will make you cool down, relax and make you ready to face the next day.
Of course, not all days run as smoothly. There will be times where you may struggle with meeting multiple deadlines, face sleep inversion, get stuck on a project and, truth be told, your personal time may be far more limited than when you were an undergraduate. An MSc course can be quite demanding and I am not going to lie that there might be times when you will doubt yourself and feel lost (luckily your lecturers are experts that can definitely help on that). However, it will probably be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life and, for sure, you will one day look back on it with nostalgia. Although I have just 2 months left until I graduate, I can assure you that I already do.
Peace out and I really hope you will enjoy your time as a student!