Maintaining a healthy routine during Summer School

LSE Summer School was an amazing opportunity – meeting new people, being taught by leading professors, exploring London all in three weeks. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and everything I learned. However, keeping up with the full-time study routine while wholeheartedly exploring all the opportunities at Summer School can be quite challenging. It’s important to find balance within the rollercoaster of emotions and newness of such an intense and diverse experience. Thus, in the following piece, I aim to share some crucial tips for maintaining a mentally and physically healthy routine during Summer School:

Be open minded, and use Summer School to explore who you are

Developing life-long connections is a great way to expand your professional network and gain insights into the career path you are building, but also to expand your horizons and enjoy your time with very nice people. Although Summer School students have all grown up in different countries, you will be surprised to see how much common ground everyone has. We all share similar interests, insecurities and, at the end of the day, we are all at the beginning of our professional journeys trying to figure out who we are, trying to develop skills that will help us reach our dreams and have fun along the way.

Often, we forget that we are more than the knowledge we carry and our technical abilities. Our life stories, our humanity, and our personal experiences shape who we are and, therefore, play a big role in preparing us to move up the career ladder with ambition, sensibility and enthusiasm. Make use of your days in London to dive deep into who you are, who you want to become in the short and in the long run and, while striving to get good grades in Summer School assessments, don’t forget to visit new places, to try out different ways of organising your daily schedule, to experiment with what works best for you and to listen to different points of view. Is there a better place to do that than in the heart of London? Focusing on yourself and your mental health can help when things become overwhelming and give you a clear focal point for your time in London.

Keep moving

During an exchange programme, it may take a little for your body and your mind to adapt to new habits, challenges, foods, time zones, academic languages etc. Including movement in your free time is nice for your overall physical health and it helps you release “happiness hormones”. I have to admit that there is nothing better than putting on sports clothes, pressing play on your favourite playlist and walking - or running - around the city. It is the absolute best way to see the sights! I would say that exercising early in the morning during Summer School, before lectures begin, is definitely a must, as you can take beautiful pictures of London before tourists even arrive - try walking by the River Thames from Victoria Embankment to Westminster!

Moreover, the LSE Gym is great and the LSE campus is close to many sports centres (the famous 1Rebel, for instance), gyms of all kinds, yoga studios (such as Yoga Rise) and most of them allow students to get discounts or try out classes. LSE Summer School also offers regular classes, such as basketball, Pilates and badminton, where you can get active while meeting other students. Surely a good opportunity to relax, to try out innovative classes, to build a routine, to blend in with the locals in your neighbourhood and to meet people from different countries - London’s multiculturality blows my mind.

This blog was written by one of our 2024 Student Ambassadors, who are here to share their stories and help you understand the summer school experience at LSE.