Can we please talk about every single uni lecture running overtime??

May I start by saying that I appreciate that lecturing 100 ungrateful students at a time probably isn't fun. Equally I understand that it can be difficult to keep to time when it is a topic you clearly care, and know a lot, about. However, it is time to take a stand against the continually overhanging lectures which are preventing us from living our lives.

Throughout school, I had eight lessons a day that teachers had to construct in precisely 40 minutes. This does not happen at university. To be fair to lecturers, it is rare that you will have the same person teaching you each week in sub-honours, and it is difficult to feel like you are cutting a subject short. However, sadly, not everything can be covered. By the time you've reached .45 of your lecture slot, most students will be Facebook, Instagram or watching Netflix. Sadly, young attention spans aren't the best for listening for long periods of time. So, those final two minutes should be left; left so that students can get water, travel or go to the bathroom.

The worst moment is when the lecturer themselves acknowledges, 'we're running out of time', and tries to cover that last fifty years of history in two minutes. As irritating as it is to run out of time, sadly swiftly passing through the topics does nobody any good.

For those of us that have five hours in a row (looking at you Medics), lectures finishing on time gives a vital breathing space. Not only to have a brief chat after learning about some of the heaviest topics on the philosophy of life, but to clear some head space after focusing for a period of time. More importantly, it gives a chance for those dashing from town to the North Haugh to actually get there on time. Finally, as the mere humans that we are, sometimes we need loo breaks. There, I said it. By taking away our 10 minute breathing space, we are being denied the right to go to the loo.

This is a two-way street though. Not to be the killjoy in the back (although I am the annoying person who says 'shh') but we should be giving the lecturers the respect they deserve. As much as it pains me, it is respectful and important to listen for as long as they are talking; even if that means you have to put your jacket on two minutes later (God forbid!).

If, by giving them your rapt attention, you have shown the knowledge that is being imparted is respected, then we can have our own arguments. By being respectful, hopefully we too can be let free on time. If we're lucky we might even have time to go to the loo between classes…