According to my timetable, I had to attend two mandatory module lectures and two seminars in my first and second semester. As an international student from a country where teaching culture is totally different, this came as a surprise. I was figuring out my place and meaning in the lecture room and in the seminars. We had additional lectures from the 301 Academic Skills Centre and for the dissertation in some of the teaching weeks. During teaching weeks, me and my classmates were going through a long list of reading activities and group discussions for presentations. Suddenly, there was a break in the tenth week. I realised at the start of week eleven that it was a ‘reading week’. I had to complete all those essential readings during that break. I laughed at my poor understanding and moved on.
I looked at the timetable again and noticed a huge gap after week fifteen. I knew about the Christmas break, but I did not know that Christmas breaks could be eight weeks long. When I was in Bangladesh planning and arranging my living situation in the UK, I did not realise that I would have to spend two months on my own. I would have planned differently if I knew I would get a two month break in-between higher studies. Students who knew or had means, went visiting acquaintances, roamed the UK and overseas, and some either intentionally or unintentionally spent days and nights inside the Information Commons and The Diamond studying.
I was fortunate enough to have a break during the exam weeks too. Apart from assignment submissions, my department had no exams. I suddenly saw crowds of students filling up every corner of the Information Commons and The Diamonds buildings. Just a few days earlier I could hardly find a group of students in those buildings. Students were frantically revising and were using multiple resources at once (laptops, computers, pads, phones) to complete their exams preparations and assignments. I saw hundreds of students placing their laptops in front of university owned computers leaving other students bankrupt of chairs and access to computers. I was amazed to see students’ resilience and perseverance. I did not see any nervousness. But when I approached some students, they shared how they had to apply for “Extensions for Extenuating Circumstances” applications to their tutors.
Believe me, finding myself in Sheffield when not many people were around, I also thought of applying for extensions. I even consulted my tutor who was very understanding. I felt ashamed of not being able to utilise the break to study properly. Then again, I looked around and had empathy for others, like myself, who did not know what to do during the two month long holiday. Even after taking this experience as a lesson, can we use the four week-long Easter break properly? I also noticed that teachers have shorter breaks and are tasked with other activities when they are not teaching us. It makes them unavailable even virtually since they have to complete other responsibilities. Under these circumstances students, especially those who are international and not going home, can find themselves in an alienated situation where they will either lose the motivation to study, or study without guidance and timely feedback.
Longer vacations with assignments and exam pressure create an unsuspecting mental crisis. There should be a better way of distributing this mounting pressure on the students who must deal with it on their own.