Reading Week is something I’ve heard many mixed reactions to in my time. Some love it as a nice reprieve from constant lectures and seminars, their only break until the Christmas holidays, but others loathe it as they realise that it’s not the week off they were perhaps hoping for.
Often aligning with mid-module assessment season, reading week sees a lot of students from all degree programmes flocking to libraries and study spaces to crack on with assessments. Some, however, choose to go home, preferring to at least crack on with work while being with their families, whom they might not have seen in a while.
There is no universal experience of reading week, and therefore, a lot of experiences differ. So while I cannot speak for all students (and I know for the record that I don’t), I can share a word of wisdom that’s helped me greatly during that one week in November: balance.
"You may think burnout comes from doing far too much work, but you’ll be amazed at how exhausted you feel after you’ve spent a whole day in bed doing nothing."
Balance is key to surviving at university, but especially during reading week. The temptation is to go one of two ways: use all the time you have to do as much as you can, or use all the time you have to do absolutely nothing. Neither scenario works, and both lead to burnout. You may think burnout comes from doing far too much work, but you’ll be amazed at how exhausted you feel after you’ve spent a whole day in bed doing nothing.
"... just relax and have time to yourself, something which becomes crucial in the third year. "
Try to structure my reading week as close as possible to your timetabled semester. Obviously, you can’t factor in lectures and seminars, but still try to do your work within typical university hours, i.e 9-6. That way, you can have evenings off from university work so that you can either focus on other commitments, or just relax and have time to yourself, something which becomes crucial in the third year.
Not having any timetabled sessions also means that you can pace yourself at a steadier rate. If you feel like you’ve been rushing through assigned reading, and you’ve gone to a seminar not understanding anything, reading week is a great chance to become familiar with what you’re reading. When you’re not rushing, your notes can become much more thorough, your understanding of ideas more concrete.
Don’t just limit yourself to rotting in the 'Philly Rob' library. This is a massive campus and a massive city with so much study space and so many places you can go. Meet up with a friend for coffee and have a study afternoon at a café. Go along to the Students' Union and get yourself a table for a group lock-in.
And of course, leave time for yourself. Personally, I’m always partial to an evening cinema trip or a wellness walk around this time, when I need a couple of hours to clear my mind. If you’re not taking care of yourself mentally or physically, then it will reflect in your concentration and your studying.
"Reading week can be many things - a stressful blob of time consisting of never-ending study sessions, or a lazy week-long break that snaps you out of a productive streak."
Reading week can be many things - a stressful blob of time consisting of never-ending study sessions, or a lazy week-long break that snaps you out of a productive streak. So I return to my main point: balance. If you balance your time between work and rest, studying and relaxation, then you should find reading week manageable.