A day in the life: Animation student in Cambridge

Hi there! I figured I would show you a bit about how it is to live and study in Cambridge. I'm studying my first year of Illustration and Animation at Anglia Ruskin University, but I'm born and raised in Finland. It was quite a trip to get here, and many things are different from up north. I came here together with my girlfriend and my best friend, we're lucky to have been accepted to the same school.

Just to give you an idea of the environment, this is King's College in the centre of Cambridge. I had one of my illustration drawing classes out here in the street, trying my hardest to draw people as they passed by.

7:30 - I wake up. This is my dorm room that I rent, which is about a 15-minute walk away from school. Outside the window is a sad little garden, although I've seen both hedgehogs and stray cats there from time to time.

9:40 - heading out.
Fridays mean you get free coffe if you wear your school hoodie, which is nice. I will surely need it as I have a lot of stuff to do today, and I'm still not really awake.

This is my apartment from the outside. I live here with three other people, all of them from outside the UK. We all agree that it was a bit scary coming here after the events of Brexit, but so far everything has been just fine.

On my way to school, passing houses and shops. Random fact: Cambridge is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the UK, seeing as it's mostly flat ground. Bike theft is not uncommon, though.

This us a shortcut to school I discovered, a little walkway next to a graveyard. It gets awfully dark and spooky at night, however.

10:00 - in class. Fridays have no actual teaching, but our current assignment is to make a 45 second long hand-drawn animation, and that takes more time than you'd expect. These are dragonframe set-ups, used to photograph animation frames.

Getting ready to start today's work. Using a lightbox I can see through the paper for reference to my previous frames. 45 seconds of animation equals about 1000 frames, of which I have about half.

16:30 - break. Having done all the things I need to do in class, I decided to go home and continue working instead. But first some hot chocolate with marshmallows!

17:00 - back in dorm. Speaking of chocolate, I got some Finnish goodness in the mail from home.

This is my work setup in my dorm, with a lightbox I rented from school. I use candy to keep me going.

20:00 - Suddenly I realise it's getting late, so I go to get some food. I also get a visit from my girlfriend.

21:00 - relaxing with her and Mr Dragon (who also came with us from Finland).

22:30 - finishing off the day with some Crusader Kings II, trying my best to conquer Brittania. Insert joke about coincidence here.

In short, I'd recommend studying here if you have the money for it (I barely do). The university offers many different courses and the city is really pleasant.
Cat tax is Maja, 14 y.o. at home in Finland