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