Submitting your first university assignment can be a daunting task. You’re not sure how it all works and you’re certain you’ve messed something up along the way.

You definitely have no idea what you’re doing, probably because you spent the first few weeks of uni getting drunk, feeling homesick, and trying desperately to become friends with people who you now haven’t spoken to in weeks.

You start re-evaluating your life choices – maybe university wasn’t the right choice after all… you’ve only just about recovered from the trauma of A-levels after all.

You feel infinitely inadequate compared to other people on your course; they seem to know exactly what they’re talking about and they probably didn’t miss all those lectures that you were too busy being hungover to attend.

You start thinking the assignment just doesn’t make sense – Isn’t it too early to be assessed? How the hell do you reference?

You’ve already accepted that it’s going to be the worst piece of work produced by a university student ever, ‘How did I even get into uni?’

The important thing to remember is that this is your FIRST assignment. If you don’t do as well as you had expected, then don’t worry about it – there’s still time to improve. After all, you’re at uni to learn.

If you’re concerned about your assignment, try talking to your tutor about it to see what you can improve on for next time.

The first few weeks are full of distractions so don’t feel bad for prioritising your social life over work – finding your feet and feeling comfortable and happy at uni is crucial. You can always pull your average up later on, as long as you know you’re capable of doing better than you have done, you have nothing to worry about.

Remember, there’s always time to turn the semester around. If you put the work in you’re sure to see results.

Here are my 3 top tips for getting on top of your workload/assignment deadlines:

– Keep nights out to a minimal and try to eat well – getting a good night’s sleep is important and living healthily will make you much more motivated and likely to succeed.
– Get as much feedback from tutors as possible – that’s what they’re there for and they’ll be impressed that you are so eager to improve.
– Note down your strengths and weaknesses so you can improve for next time.

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