A Day in My Life as a University of Rochester Student
As a high schooler, one of my biggest questions about colleges I was interested in was what my day-to-day life would look like as a student there. Now that I’m a college sophomore, I’m happy to help answer that question for anyone standing in those shoes!
Every student has their own unique ambitions, so my schedule is certainly not representative of what every Rochester student’s looks like—even my own plans vary drastically depending on the week—but for the sake of example, I decided to document how I spent my day on Thursday, Oct. 31.
So, without further ado, here is a glimpse into the life of a University of Rochester student!
9:00 to 9:30 am Wake up and get ready for the day
I live in the Residential Quad, which is situated in a fairly central area on campus, so I’m lucky to be a short walk away from most of my classes. A few perks about the Residential Quad: Each room has its own sink, every floor includes a lounge with a kitchenette, and being located in the middle of campus makes transportation super convenient. I chose to live in a double with the same roommate I was randomly paired with as a first-year student, and I now consider her a friend for life, which is proof that random roommate assignments can work out well sometimes!
9:40 to 10:55 am First class of the day: yoga!
Since I was part of Hatha Yoga Club as a first year, I was excited to join DAN114 this semester, which is an introductory yoga course taught by the same instructor as yoga club. I’ve really enjoyed starting my mornings off with yoga twice a week, so I love that the curriculum at Rochester has given me time to add fun electives to my schedule.
11:05 am to 12:20 pm Accounting class
As a business major, ACC201 is one of the courses we take for our core requirements. Although I plan on going into marketing, I feel like I’ve learned so much valuable information in accounting, and I can definitely see the knowledge from it being applied to my other business classes in the future. I think that ACC201 is an excellent course for anyone interested in business to take, especially since it’s taught by such a great professor.
12:30 to 1:05 pm Lunch at the Pit!
After accounting class, I headed over to the Pit (located on the first floor of Wilson Commons) to meet one of my friends for lunch. The Pit is definitely one of my favorite dining options on campus, and I love that it has a pretty decent selection of items to choose from. I’m a big fan of Wok on Up (which reminds me of Panda Express) and Rocky’s Sub Shop (which is similar to Subway), though there are plenty of other great options at the Pit, too.
1:10 pm Return to my room for a break
Subsequent to lunch, I went back to my dorm room to take a short break until my next class. During that time, I briefly chatted with my roommate, attempted to take a nap, and practiced various other forms of procrastination.
2:00 to 3:15 pm Calculus class
MTH143 is another class I’m taking for my business major. Calculus doesn’t come the most naturally to me, but I’m grateful that I’ve had great math professors and peers at Rochester that have been super kind about helping me learn the material.
3:25 to 4:40 pm Last class of the day: journalism!
One of the classes I’m taking for my journalism minor is ENG131, a class that focuses on developing skills for writing and reporting the news. I’ve had so much fun practicing news writing and learning about journalism techniques in class, so I highly encourage anyone interested in writing to take ENG131 (or really any class with Memmott) if they have the chance.
4:50 pm Return to my room for another break
Once journalism class ended, I returned to my room for another break, where I ate some snacks, texted my mom, watched YouTube videos, and sent some emails. (As you can see, my life gets pretty crazy sometimes!)
6:00 pm Work on homework
6:30 to 6:50 pm Dinner at Douglass Dining Center
I met my friend for dinner at Douglass Dining Center (colloquially referred to as Douggie) before a club meeting. Unlike the Pit, Douggie offers all-you-can-eat meals, so you can eat as much or as little food as you’d like for a flat fee.
7:00 to 8:00 pm Forté Campus meeting.
Following dinner, I attended a club meeting for Forté Campus, which is a club seeking to help students improve their business and leadership skills, with a special emphasis on supporting women. During our meeting we listened to a guest speaker, who was a Rochester alumnus, and participated in a few activities centered around finding our professional identities.
8:15 pm Return to my room and work on homework again.
After the Forté meeting, I finished off my set commitments for the day, so I spent the rest of my night in the Residential Quad. From 8:15 pm onwards I worked on my homework, occasionally pausing to do some chores along the way.
9:00 pm Start laundry.
During a quick pause from homework, I decided to put my laundry in the wash. In the Residential Quad, our laundry room is located on the basement floor, equipped with five washers and five dryers. It usually takes 30 minutes for a wash cycle and roughly an hour to finish in the dryer, so I normally head back to my room, set a timer, and work on something else while I’m waiting for my laundry (in this case, I continued working on homework).
9:40 pm Shower and brush my teeth.
10:40 pm Pick up laundry from dryer.
12 am Retire to my room for the night, finish working on homework for the day, and relax until bedtime.
1 am Sleep!
Although my day-to-day plans are never exactly the same, one thing that remains true for me every day is my gratitude for being able to attend the University of Rochester. So, I hope I’ve been able to convey my love for Rochester to you and my experiences have helped you get a nice peek inside our community!