08:30 a.m.

Although Malaika’s first class does not start before 10:00 a.m., she has to make her way to university early today. She lives in Hamburg where she shares an apartment with her boyfriend and commutes to Bremen. This semester, her courses take place on two days a week, so she does not have to be at university every day. At around 10:00 a.m. she reaches the SFG building, where her first class is. There, she meets up with fellow student Anell to sit next to her in class. Malaika and Anell met during the orientation week and Anell studies Political Science as well.

10:15 a.m.

The first seminar on Malaika’s timetable today is “Current Issues in Migration Policy.” It starts at 10:15 a.m. and ends at 11:45 a.m., which is because of what is known as the “academic quarter.” You can tell whether your course is scheduled to start 15 minutes after the full hour by the abbreviation “c.t.” The seminar provides an overview of global migration with a particular focus on the situation in the EU and Germany. Every week, students give presentations on vari-ous topics, which are followed by a discussion on a particular question. Today, it is Malaika and Anell’s turn to present their topic. The subsequent discussion will be on the question of which reforms may be necessary to meet the challenges of migration.

11:45 a.m.

After their first seminar, Malaika and Anell usually go to the university campus dining hall (Mensa) together. This time, they choose something from the salad bar. “What I particularly like about the salad bar is that that I can pick and choose the individual components myself. I generally like to eat fresh food at lunchtime, and the salad bar offers a good range at fair prices,” Malaika states. Her drink of choice is cola. At this time of day, it is usually rather difficult to find a good seat at the Mensa dining hall. They are therefore particularly happy to have found a place by the window. However, they don’t have much time, as they their next seminar starts at 12:15 p.m. in GW2 building.

12:15 a.m.

After having arrived at GW2 building on time, the “Statistics I – Exercises” course is about to start. It is based on the lecture that Malaika attended on Tuesday. The lec-ture and the accompanying exercises introduce students to the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics and the programming language R is used. Every week, the students learn about a new function in the seminars, familiarizing them with the ba-sics of the software. Today, the main topic is “correlation and linear regression.” Malaika is taking this seminar as a general studies module. For her degree program, she is required to earn 18 CP in the general studies area. “For many seminars, we only receive 3 CP. I opted for statistics because I earn 9 CPs with it, which means I can slightly minimize time and effort spent on learning,” Malaika reports. The general studies area is divided into two categories. On the one hand, there are subject-specific courses, some of which are tied to specific faculties and are there-fore only available to students of these subjects. Malaika’s statistics seminar falls into this category. On the other hand, all students can take advantage of elective courses from individual faculties as part of their supplementary studies, but also, for example, learn a foreign language.

13:45 a.m.

After the statistics seminar, Malaika heads straight to the next session, which takes place in the small lecture hall. Normally, there would be time to grab a coffee or a snack, but today something special is on the agenda: Experts have been invited to talk about the upcoming 2024 European elections and will answer questions during the lecture. That is why it is important to Malaika to get a good seat in the lecture hall. Therefore, so she goes straight to the next seminar.

14:15 a.m.

The “Introduction to European Integration” lecture begins. The content deals with the basic structure and functions of the European Union and the way the various institu-tions interact with each other. To this end, the EU institutions, EU policy, the stake-holders, as well as the political processes that significantly determine European inte-gration are presented. Usually at the end of lectures, there are many lively discus-sions. Malaika finds these discussions important and explains, “I chose this degree course because it is very versatile and so are the areas in which I can work later. I’m currently working as a student assistant in the press and marketing department of a museum in Hamburg, where I can put a lot of what I have learned during my degree into practice. The seminars on academic writing were particularly helpful in this re-gard, but knowledge of social discourse also comes in useful.”

15:45 a.m.

After the lecture, Malaika often heads straight home because of the long journey to Hamburg. Today, however, she make a stop at the State and University Library, SuUB for short, as she wants to prepare for her upcoming exams. “I usually go to the library after or between clas-ses, and on the other days, I study at home,” Malaika states. Today she is preparing her study notes for the exam in “Introduction to European Integration.”

18:00 a.m.

After some productive revision in the SuUB, Malaika heads back to the main station. To do this, she takes tram line 6 from the university central campus in the direction of the airport. She makes the most of the long commute too. “As I still have about one and a half hours on the train back to Hamburg, I can devote myself to my study notes on the journey,” she states.

Further Information

The State and University Library

The university campus dining hall (Mensa)

Information on the general studies program