Hi guys, I have been gone for the last week but with a good reason! I was in the hospital due to my own stupidity and ignoring my health, very painful. But a week forward and here I am with another post and another apology for no posts, some things never change.

Since most of you are now back at university like me, it’s also very probable you have some assignments due in soon, like essays, also like me. And most likely you are panicking and doing it last minute, like me! no? okay just me being last minute Larry, Anyway, I know the stress and panic to do with essays and presentations very well which is why I wanted to give you guys something simple to follow while planning or doing your first drafts.

So, I gathered 4 main tips I use on all my essays that I can share with you guys and maybe make your essay writing a little less stressful.

1. Do not over complicate your words and sentence structures – I know because you think you’re at university you think you have to use all these fancy words to impress your lecturers, but it actually isn’t so! In my first individual assignment (yes because sometimes you have to work in a group, on an essay, I know weird) I over complicated my sentence structure and used some words that I didn’t even know what they fully meant, and my teacher sent back my first draft with a big “NO” to my writing style. I over did it, confused myself, confused my teacher and it was just no good. By no means does this mean that you should answer your essays with “this means that… which proves my point. Next is…” That is too basic, just write with the words that you know, maybe add a few other variations of words but don’t go overboard!
2. Reference valid sources – No Wikipedia, no random Facebook or Instagram links, no uncredited web pages. Make sure if you are referencing something in your work you can find the following in: who published it, when, where, and the name of the company (if the text is online) or name of the publisher (if the text is a book or a journal) Because if you don’t reference right you will get marked down because they are not accredited academic sources, sure they might prove the point you are trying to make in your essay but if they don’t have any academic accreditation they will not be validated by your teacher. Also make sure you are using the referencing guide from Harvard for your essays, unless your university has its own. If you are struggling to find accredited sources for your work, type in the topic area of your question and the “ac” at the end of it, meaning academic, most of the articles that will pop up then will be scholar articles and will be valuable in your assignments.
3. Make sure you actually answer the question – The amount of times I have gone through half of my essay and then gone back to the question to then see I have not been answering it fully is uncounted for, this is such a common mistake and its okay to make it, just make sure every time you write a paragraph, go back and check if it is fully addressing the question, and do that again when you finish your essay. Always check before you submit because you could be losing out on easy marks! And we know every mark counts.
4. PLEASE read the brief! – Relating to the last point, make sure your essay is following the brief and the given marking criteria, because then you will know exactly what your teacher will be looking for in your essay, and once again you will not be missing those easy marks. Briefs also help you plan your essay if that’s what you like to do, you can break down easily what to put in every paragraph once you know what is expected of you to write about and include.

Now after all these good points to help you write the best essays possible make sure most of all that you don’t over stress. Essays are hard I know but it’s not worth losing your head about. Ask for help, speak to your friends and arrange meetings with your teachers if you need the help or don’t understand something. It’s better for you to reach out and get the best grades possible rather than sitting at home and struggling for basic marks!

Love, Kasia x

Hi guys,

Not to be contradicting to the title of the blog post first-hand here, but, I would say that I have been limited to my 1 post a week schedule from studying as a second-year student. So yes, it is a bit scary.

That’s it, end of the blog post!

No, I’m just kidding, but yes, I do have less free time now that I am back as a second-year student which explains the lack of content. There are lots of new things I have keep on top of that are not part of my course directly and when you hit the second year you probably will too. Today I want to go through the kind of things that are expected of you as a second-year student, some of these things will be tailored to my university in particular but I will try and keep it as mainstream as possible for any of you reading out there to relate.

First thing I do want to honestly say is that I have no idea where my first year went! One second it was here, and now it’s gone, just disappeared. I know they said it will go quickly but really that quickly? In all honesty, the first year was great because I see it to kind of ease you into what you are about to study and allows you to see if the course you have picked is for you. Also having the first year not count towards your final grade is also another additional thing that I would say is great because once again it gives you that time to find out if this is really for you. Don’t get me wrong, they say it does not count, but you need to at least pass every assignment to be accepted to continue the course, so don’t take it for a joke.

Enough about the first year, now on to what I have experienced and could say about surviving my first week as a second year. Now like I said I do not mean to alarm you, but I am not using the term SURVIVING lightly here, it is very hard. No “don’t worry you will get the hang of it, you have lots of time to learn” it’s more like “Welcome back guys, hope you all had a good summer and said goodbye to your friends and family, here is 10 essays, 3 portfolios and 5 exams”.

It’s been a week. 2 break downs and I am here for the next week now. I am swamped with work, but not in a bad way. The above is dramatized obviously but I do mean it in a way because the people who worked with you in your first year such as lecturers or group leader are most likely to be working with you this second year and they will expect more of you and its right that they do. You had your “introduction” being the first year and now it’s time to get down to business. They expect you to do lots of reading beyond the unit guides, lots of your own research and some extra curriculum activities too. Personally, I part take in being a student ambassador for my university, part of a talent program we also offer here and now just started studying to be a Microsoft Office Word specialist. And I moan about not having free time to write? and not to mention my part-time job… Sorry! I need the experience.

Within the first week, I was introduced to all my assignments for the first semester, ending in December, and I see that as being a good and bad thing. Bad meaning, I got overwhelmed and had a break down over the fact that this year will be really hard and I will be doing things I have never done before, such as conducting my own research based on primary research or setting up live promotional campaigns. But also good in the way that I was told straight off the bat that this is what I will be doing this year and I better get ready for it. So, my advice to you, if you just also started the second year, try and avoid breaking down but rather process the information calmly, make notes and be sure you are clear on what needs to be done for the semester. And definitely don’t sit in your bed, cry about it and eat a whole bar of Cadbury chocolate…It’s just an example… it’s not like I did it.

Also, in the first week I was introduced to placements, and what those are about is getting a job for either 4 weeks or 30 weeks in the field that you want to work in after you graduate, to get experience and find your ground. Now to make my life harder, I decided to go with a 30-week placement. I told my friends and they look at me as if I was crazy at first! Anyway, I decided to do a placement for this long period of time because I feel it will give me more experience in the field I want to work in, which is marketing, and also that it will give me a break from studying but also a taste of that adult life. Now I wish I had some advice for you about placements, but only just starting on my own placement journey I have very little advice to give. I would say one main thing though, which I know will be scary to a few of you, you should go into applying for placements with a career path in mind, ideally. If you don’t that’s fine you still have time to figure it out but I do consider it to make the process easier as I see one of my friends struggling with placement options as he does not really know what he wants to do, which adds more stress and you don’t want that.

I am considering doing a small series of blog posts with a placement update timeline, explaining my placement journey as I go, I will see through but it might be helpful to someone, let me know in the contact section of the blog.

So, to round off, those are my two main first week experiences of being a second-year student, and to answer the question above, yes it is scary. But don’t let that overtake you. I am scared of what’s to come for the next year as I type this, but I know I and anyone else feeling this way will get through it with the right people to talk to and a positive mindset.

Love, Kasia x