A Day in the Life of a UWS Science Student

7am: I wake up, throwing on an outfit I’d already picked out the night before, to save me the stress in the morning. Breakfast at the moment consists of overnight oats with dried strawberries and honey yoghurt. It’s been a favourite for a while, but I rediscovered it the other week.

8am: It’s time to leave. Even though my lecture doesn’t start until 10am, the drive is just over an hour so I’ve got to make sure I can make it on time and avoid traffic on the bypass.

9am: I meet up with my friends in one of the booths in the cafeteria and on our way to class we sign in using the UWS app and scanners.

10am: I arrive at my Wildlife Biology lecture taught by Dr Jamie Turner. I use a little A5 notebook to take shorthand notes throughout as well as having the slides up on my laptop, so I don’t miss anything on the board.

Today’s lecture focused on distribution and occupancy of populations of animals worldwide. Learning the differences between dispersion, distribution and dispersal in relation to this.

Also highlighted was the difference in a species fundamental niche versus its realised niche. In simple terms, the fundamental niche is the total area that would hypothetically be suitable for an animal whereas the realised niche puts it into real life perspective by factoring in the obstacles an animal may face such as predators or limited resources, which mean they can’t actually access that entire suitable habitat.

11am: Around an hour into the lecture, we’re given 5 minutes to process everything we’ve learned so far, go for a bathroom break or grab a quick snack and juice downstairs at the mini café. Typically, my go to is the ultimate brownie and a can of J2O. The ultimate brownie has been a consistent winner for me since first year.

12pm: It’s lunchtime. We might get off early if the lecture goes by quick and if so, we have enough time to drive down to ASDA for a quick meal deal. As I’ve never been one to enjoy a tea or a coffee, an energy drink is a must at this point in the day.

1pm: Today's afternoon session was in the computer lab. It was a workshop that took what we learned early in the morning and applied it to how it would be used in the field when studying animal populations within specific areas. As the workshop came to a close, we were told that what we had learned today would be necessary for completing our first assignment for the module - a report on a chosen species and its distribution.

3pm to 4pm: It’s time to drive home. Another hour which, if I’m lucky, I can avoid the beginnings of rush-hour traffic. Driving tends to take it out of me, so admittedly I end up napping for around an hour when I get home.

5pm: Upon waking up (and relaxing for a bit) I open the information on how to complete the report from Aula. My chosen species is dingoes - those Australian feral dogs - and I begin researching all the basic information giving myself a good depth of understanding. Any papers I find on Google Scholar that I think may be useful for when it comes to writing the report I copy and paste their links into a Word document, taking notes along the way.

6pm: Dinner comes, and I put down the uni work for today. It’s time to actually wind down. I pick up my Nintendo Switch I got for Christmas and hop on Animal Crossing for the next hour or so, relaxing until it’s time to get ready for bed.

Blog written by Anna Munro, UWS Applied Bioscience and Zoology student | February 2025