Reading week is a waste of time

Make sure you do some reading, make sure you do some work. Whether this mantra is repeated at you by a lecturer or your mum, you’ll no doubt take little to no notice.

Yeah, yeah, you’ll tell yourself. A whole week with no lectures, that’s loads of time to get stuff done. I’ll be super organised and make a timetable, and be really productive.

Don’t kid yourself. You’ll start off with the best intentions, promising yourself you’re going to make the most of it. But let’s face facts, unless you are one of these incredibly organised people, you won’t do much more than when you’ve got lectures to go to.

Add get drunk to the list

At uni you’re more likely to work with a looming deadline or a seminar to prepare for. When you’ve got seven days of uninterrupted nothingness in your calendar, you trick yourself into thinking you can have a few days of relaxing and then crack on with some revision.

In real life you’ll binge watch Netflix, get pissed with your mates, and sleep. You’ll tell yourself you deserve the time off, but chances are you probably don’t, unless you actually do a demanding degree or are a postgrad.

I so deserve a reading week

Odds are you pay nine grand a year for your degree, and how often do you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth? Reading week is another week uni isn’t giving you anything back. It’s an excuse for lecturers to tell you to catch up and do extra reading, when actually they could be doing some teaching to help you pass those exams.

Once reading week hits you’re pretty much halfway through term, the end is closer than the beginning, and you were probably just getting into the swing of things. Getting to a 9am wasn’t as hard as it was after Christmas, even with a killer hangover. One week out of it is going to make you feel knackered all over again.

What’s the harm?

Studious.

It’s categorically unfair some courses get reading week and some don’t. Surely it should be one rule for all? If the idea behind it really is to read and work independently, shouldn’t all courses have a reading week? It’s a complete lottery at most unis whether you get one or not.

For the past week I’ve promised I’d get so much done, and in reality it hasn’t panned out. I’ve been out three times, visited my Grandma and obsessed over who killed Lucy Beale. All of these little tasks are a great accomplishment for my social life and mental health – and now I feel immensely guilty and stressed for my seminar on Monday.

Take it from me, reading week isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.