Hello all! We’re finally back to uni and classes have started again. Whether you decided to return to Dundee or stay at home and do distance learning, we’ve all been back to studying for at least a week now. I thought it would be worth me sharing my experiences of my first week of fourth year, and my first ever week of blended learning.
Overall, it was a really interesting and grounding experience. I think we all have our reservations about some, if not all, of our teaching being online. However, it is something that we will all have to get used to! Personally, I do have some classes in-person this semester, however they are far less frequent than I am used to, and the majority of my learning this semester will be online. There are parts I enjoy about being online, and parts I really miss from in-person classes, but I’m hoping this new normal grows on me!
On Monday, I had no classes at all, so it was full of preparation for the week, including lots of reading and note-taking! Tuesday was my first online class. It went pretty well, but there were of course some technical difficulties! I think this is expected from the first few classes as it’s all new for the lecturers as well as us students. That night, I had football training. It was my second week back at training and I’m loving that little bit of normality! We’re allowed to play football as it is an organised sport and we all fill in track and trace forms before the sessions. It’s so strange being near to people after so long of forcing yourself to stay 2m apart, but the regulations put in place by the SU do make it feel very safe.
Wednesday was another day of no classes! We love that fourth year history timetable. So I managed to squeeze in more reading and preparation for the coming weeks. On Thursday, I had my first bit of History Society promotion for the year. The first year history students had a visit to the V&A booked, and we at the society set up a rota to be outside the V&A at all points during the day in order to advertise the society to the freshers! It was a great way to get the message out about the society as advertising is a real struggle at the moment. It was also really nice to see some staff members that I haven’t spoken to for a long time!
Friday was a very quiet day, but I had a dissertation class on the afternoon, led by a member of staff from the library. I’m not doing my dissertation until next semester, but I thought it was really useful to get to grips with what is going to be expected from me next semester! I’m starting to settle back into uni and getting to grips with it all being online, and I’m looking forward to some in-person classes next week.
I’m excited to see what the coming week brings! I hope you are all enjoying being back at uni, despite it not being quite what we expected it to be like.