Student Series: A day in the life of a Photography student at South Essex College

Hello everybody! My name is Amy, and I’m a third-year student in college, but this is my first year at South Essex College. I’m currently studying Level 3 Photography at the Southend Campus, and I am enjoying it a lot so far, it’s a lot different to what I thought it would be, especially given the circumstances, but I am thankful for the college putting lots of different safety measures in place to protect its staff and students, like hand sanitizer, one-way systems, and social distancing. Also, my course is partly online because of the situation too, meaning that I receive my lessons via Teams on the days or lessons that I am not on campus. Sometimes, this could be all day, or it has been for one or two lessons so far, it really depends on what I’m getting up to on my course, be it practical work, or theory based. 

A typical day on campus usually starts with me waking up relatively early at around 6am, and I like starting my day earlier to make the most of my time and get things done. I usually take my morning slowly, so I give myself time to wake up and relax a bit before diving into the craziness of my morning commute. I usually head out to campus at least an hour before my timetabled lesson starts, so that I leave enough time for traffic and anything that might delay my journey... At this point I’m ready for breakfast, so once I get to campus, I stop off somewhere to grab a bite to eat and some snacks for later. Then I head to campus and wait for my lesson to start. 

Usually, I have online classes at least once a week, but this changes at any time so I always make sure to plan ahead in case things change. This usually means keeping everything semi-tidy on my desk at home … but we all know no matter how much you tidy it up, it gets messier! But what’s wrong with a bit of organised chaos? Any who, the joys of my online lessons mean that I get to make myself comfortable at home, usually either on my bed or at my desk depending on how ‘put together’ I feel that day, but overall, it usually involved comfy clothes and a comfy blanket to get me through the session. I must admit I do prefer being in class on campus, but at the given time that’s not always possible. I like online classes too, it saves a lot of time and havoc with the trains, and the best part about online lessons is that my dog usually cuddles up on my lap whilst I work, and who doesn’t love that?