May felt rushed and yet extremely slow at the same time.
The second semester exams began in the second week. I personally had just two exams, but they were separated by a period of twelve days, making for a slow and steady revision period. I divided my time between group study sessions with willing classmates and quiet individual study. It was challenging to reacquaint myself with all the material taught over the ten weeks before Easter break — but the amount of time afforded to students by the university was more than ample to prepare sufficiently. May also brought along a formative submission for our Group Business Project, which meant that we had to schedule time with our entire team to discuss an annotated bibliography that would form the core of our reference list for the project.
Personally, May also presented a very unique challenge - the Holy month of Ramadan began. With the length of the day determining the length of the fasts in Ramadan, I experienced physically demanding fasts like never before. I refrained from food and drink for nearly 19 hours every day during the month. And just coincidentally enough, the university cricket season began. This meant that I had to spend my time very wisely in order to manage studying, fasting, and playing an eight-hour game without any replenishments. Check out our team, having defeated the University of Lancaster away from home by 7 wickets.
Nonetheless, the month was successful - I performed well in my exams, proudly represented the university in games at Leeds and Lancaster, helping the team to the top of the league, and completed fasting in Ramadan as well. If there's any advice I have for the month of May, it is to get your time sorted out in advance. Plan, plan, and plan some more, because even though the days get longer, you somehow feel like you're running out of time :)
Before the semester officially comes to an end in the middle of June, we have a few days off. I am visiting home for a few weeks before I return to Manchester for the final sprint.
