A day in the life of a Mechanical Engineering student at Birmingham

As a Mechanical Engineering student, I tend to spend much of my day on campus,
whether that be for classes, labs, self-motivated study sessions, or for activities. Let’s
dive into what a typical day of being a final year Mechanical Engineering Student looks
like!

The Workflow

Between my taught modules, my final year thesis project, and all the university work in
between, my workflow tends to be quite regular and predictable. After lectures, I often
spend some self-motivated study time consolidating the lecture material, making sure
I’ve understood the content and listing any questions I have. Although this isn’t an
explicit requirement of the course, I’ve found that it helps me front-load a lot of my exam prep and avoids last-minute cramming during assessment month.

Aside from this, I often meet with my project supervisor to catch up on my project progress, ask questions and get advice. A great thing about the School of Engineering at Birmingham is the open channel of communication you have with the academic staff. On many occasions, I’ve been able to clarify my doubts and queries quite promptly by speaking directly to my professors and supervisors.

Tips for long days on campus

Engineering students in their first and second year tend to have the most contact hours on campus. With these hectic timetables, you’ll often have various lectures and tutorials spread across the day, making it quite difficult to go home, cook yourself an elaborate lunch and take a break.

A trick that I found particularly useful was meal-prepping. Meal-prepping allowed me to eat nourishing home-cooked meals, without having to regularly spend the extra 3-4 quid. With the various kitchenettes spread across many campus buildings such as the Library, Arts Building, School of Engineering etc, I was also able to heat my meals up, which was an added bonus.

Another trick that helped me through long days on campus was familiarising myself with the various campus study spaces and cafes. While popular spaces like the Library and the Engineering Building are great; there are days I need a change of pace; studying in a new environment is proven to boost productivity and has helped get me out even my most underproductive days.

Finding a rhythm

Regardless of what your preference for study venue or choice of meal is, one thing is for sure: engineering is a marathon, not a sprint. Finding a routine that works for you and that helps you consistently meet your daily and weekly goals will go a long way towards ensuring you maintain a good work-life balance.

Life outside Engineering

Sometimes, coursework can get quite overwhelming, so it’s important to have an outlet, whether that be socials, hobbies or other things. On days I’m feeling like a night in, playing my guitar or joining my housemates for Board Games Night is a great stress-buster. And on the days I don’t feel like staying in, I relieve stress either by going to the gym, meeting my friends at the pub, or going into town for a meal. Uni life is more than the classes you take, and it’s important to embrace its fun side, no matter what shape that takes.