“After the end-of-year celebrations comes the time for partials. I already had a few exams before the holidays, the next ones are this week. Of course, the period is always a bit stressful, but I’m not naturally anxious. On the other hand, I tend to revise quite late, so I find myself with a lot of work at the moment.
Alexandre, 23, in L3 history
To put words, and images, on the difficulties of students, hit hard by inflation after two years of the Covid crisis, “Obs” will meet throughout the year with students including Alexandre, 23, in L3 history at Lyon 2 University. The young man has agreed to give himself up.
During exams, I revise every day, until about mid-afternoon. Then I try to take some time for myself, to decompress. I play sports, I see friends, I go to the movies… At Sciences-Po, there was a lot of homework, more than at university. The two years that I spent there allowed me to acquire benchmarks to know myself, to know how to organize myself in the work.
The coming week, I have three partials, essays and a text commentary. The tests last between two and four hours, which allows you to think about a structured and relevant plan and not to be pressed for time. These are fairly standard tests, in lecture halls. As I arrived in L3 [troisième année de licence], I had a lot of lessons to catch up and a methodology to acquire. But, so far, my grades aren’t bad. I hope to validate my semester without the remedial session.
“Live my student life”, a year with Sarah, Océane, Alexandre and the others
In addition to the revision of the partials, I try to devote two to three hours every two days to do a press review, because I prepare in parallel for the contests of the schools of journalism. Between the partials and the preparation for these competitions, it’s been a hell of a day. Especially since I also work voluntarily for a blog, for which I write film reviews.
Working for competitions, in addition to college, requires a lot of work. Fortunately, I know their dynamic, since I had spent some to enter Sciences-Po Lyon. I’m not in the same state of stress as when I discovered this universe a few years ago.
“Since the start of the school year, I have changed my way of consuming and I prefer hard discount brands”
I peel the annals, I find out what the teachers recommend, I seek advice from those around me. For now, I’m working on the press review. The second semester promises to be denser because I will intensify my preparation, the competitions taking place between April and June.
I will work on grammar, immerse myself in social and political sciences. But it’s still quite fresh in my memory, since these are subjects that I studied at Sciences-Po. To improve my English, I read “le Monde” in English, which allows me to see what journalistic writing looks like in the language and what expressions or turns of phrase can be used. I don’t know yet which schools I will present; I will look into it as soon as my exams are finished. »
