Day in the life of an exercise and sports science student

Author: Christina Sexton

For Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science student Amelia Russo, her day begins with movement and ends with the movies. Here’s how she’s studying for her degree, her way.

7 – 8am

"I’ll always start my day with a gym session and I like to get moving early. I used to be a competitive cyclist and I still love keeping fit."

9 – 9.30am

"I live very close to uni, so I walk to campus most days. I use this time to listen to my lecture notes. I have a system where I actually record my own voice reading my notes to myself. Listening to this on my walk to uni really helps things sink in."

9.30 – 10am

"Once I arrive, I have a tea or coffee and head straight to the library. I like to be on campus about 30 minutes before my first lecture to prepare for the day’s classes."

10am – 12pm

"Lectures in exercise science are all so different. For a subject like sports psychology it’s really interactive and similar to a workshop. Anatomy and biology tend to be more content heavy, and biomechanics involved plenty of maths and learning a lot of equations. I hated maths during high school so I was totally surprised to find I enjoyed it at uni. Our biomechanics lecturer makes it enjoyable and relatable to day-to-day activities and how it applies to sports."

12 – 2pm

"I don’t like having a lecture and tutorial for the same subject back-to-back on the same day. I’d rather have time to think about what I’ve learnt in a lecture before diving straight into a tutorial on the same topic. So, my afternoon tutorial is usually for a different unit. Regardless of the subject, these classes involve a lot of group work and can be very practical. We’ll exercise in class and test each other on different things. We also do a lot of work on relationship building with clients, which is really important for our careers later on. The tutorials are mostly held in exercise science labs and gyms and we’re rarely sitting down. Even for psychology we’ll be up on our feet doing experiments. This means we all have to come to class dressed and ready to go – sneakers and gym gear are the norm."

2 – 3.30pm

"After the tutorial I’ll head to the library again to read articles – my degree involves a lot of research. Unless I’m involved in a group project, I like reading and revising on my own."

3.30 – 5.30pm

"After I’m finished in the library, I’ll walk home and just relax for a bit doing my own thing."

5.30 – 10pm

"I work at my local cinema, and admittedly this means I haven’t been to the movies myself in ages! I’ve always got so much going on – time management is my biggest challenge at the moment. There’s so much content to get through in exercise science, and I’ve had to make time for internships as well. Luckily, I really enjoy my degree and I think I’ll keep going with a masters after I’m done."

If you have a passion for sport like Amelia, find out where our sport and exercise science degrees will take you.