Ask Us 20/11

I’m in my first year and when I moved into halls I ended up on a corridor with lots of medics who I get on really well with. It was great at first when we all didn’t have that much work, but now that deadlines are starting to creep up, ours are completely different. When it gets closer to Christmas, I have absolutely loads whereas they finish early for the holidays. They’ve planned a whole week of going out every night once they’ve finished, whereas I’ll have to stay in and work solidly. It’s making me feel quite isolated and when I do have free time to go out, they have to stay in to revise. What should I do?

Periods of time at uni with lots of deadlines are never fun, but maybe you could see this as the perfect opportunity to get on with your work uninterrupted. You’ll be a lot more focused without your friends coming into your room to suggest nights in with a takeaway and film. If you schedule your time effectively and really focus, there is a chance that you could even finish your deadlines early and get to join your medic friends on one of their nights out, but don’t use this as a reason to rush things! If you don’t, maybe organize with your friends to stay one extra night in Manchester before you all go back home where everyone can enjoy it. If they’re being really insensitive, they’ll surely understand if you asked them to bear in mind that you’re still mired in work and won’t really enjoy lots of conversation about what happened the night before. During this time it also might be worth chatting to a few people on your course. They’ll be in the same position as you, you can likely advise each other with work and it wouldn’t hurt to widen your friendship group to people who will understand.