‘University is too hard’

Many first year students are starting to panic a bit now that the glow of the welcome parties has faded a bit and they’re faced with what seems like mountains of work.

Take a breath. Seriously. You’ve only been at university for a few weeks.

Please remember that just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it isn’t good! Just as physical exercise requires effort but is good for us so intellectual effort is required to train the brain.

When you first went to ‘big school’ aged 11 or so you probably found it daunting. You survived. GCSEs were scary aged 15 or so. You survived. GSCE A’ Level was even more scary to begin with and seemed very complicated. You  survived. You even did well enough to get in to university.

At the moment your job is to attend tutorials, seminars and lectures and to do your best to do the reading. You will find it hard at first – that’s normal. University is not supposed to be easy – what would be the point? There is a lot of help out there though – lots of people and resources to help you to develop the skills that you need.

It may come as a nasty shock but university is hard work – you need to approach it rather like a job. There will be times when I hope you’ll feel enthusiastic even passionate about what you’re studying. There will also be times when you don’t like what you’re studying but you have to do it anyway. As a lecturer I’ve often had to teach texts I didn’t like!

You are likely to have a mid-term break soon. Use it to rest, eat properly, get some exercise and READ.

I’ll post what I hope will be helpful suggestions over the coming weeks. Let me know if there’s an issue you’d like me to cover ( a general one – I’m not going to write your essays for you!). I’d like to make this site as useful as possible. You can either email me at  info@english-lecturer.co.uk or tweet me @EnglishLecture2 or post a message on the English Lecturer Facebook page.

Please understand that I can’t guarantee to reply to specific messages (although I will if I have time) but I will keep a note of the issues that students are raising and address them in my posts.

If something is urgent please contact your tutor and / or a member of your learning support unit.

Good luck guys. Have a good day 🙂