Cambridge – Give Us A Break!

Eight weeks of intense study. Eight weeks of trying, and failing, to equalise that work-life balance. Eight weeks concluding with a magnanimous collapse and an attempt to find out where it all went wrong. Why have you been left with last term’s leftover essays, a brand new reading list and a massive sleep debt?

Ladies and gentlemen, I have the answer. A reading week, or rather: Cambridge’s lack of one.

It is cold, hard fact that we work harder than most students at other universities. Amidst accusations of intellectual superiority, there is no denying that their sparse lecture timetable and termly essays pale in comparison to our weekly workload. So it’s utterly unfathomable why they get a week off in the middle of term, when we are forced to endure until the bitter end.

A familiar sight: is term too intense? 

I propose a week off after Week Four and an extension of our term to 9 weeks. This would allow a chance to catch your breath, absorb the beauty of Cambridge, and enjoy student life without wondering where you have to be in the next five minutes. If you decide to spend that entire week drunk off your face, so be it, but at least you’ve had fun.

There’s no denying that Cambridge is a wonderful experience, but sometimes it would be nice to have time to appreciate it – to go punting, see the sights and remember why you chose to do your subject in the first place. Imagine having days to read those books, understand those theories and write those essays, rather than cramming and producing something that you know isn’t your best.

Incidentally, I write this as I enter into the dark confines of Week Five. It’s the week of that dreaded feeling: you’ve done a lot of work but can’t remember what it’s been on. I have written this article in a small window I have in between a lecture, a supervision and popping into Sainsbury’s.

It would be really nice to be able to take a deep breath, and enjoy. But for now, I must dash.