A Lesson Learnt!

Hi everyone!

I trust you have read my last blog ‘A Minute to the Deadline’ (there’s also a poll included so if you haven’t yet voted, please do so), well since then , I feel that I have become a lot more productive! As soon as I gave in that essay I was extremely eager to start the others so that the same thing doesn’t happen again!

I have four assignments left for this semester and they’re all due in January, however I’m going to try to complete them all by the end of December. It’s always a good idea to finish your essays a week in advance, that way if anything drastic happens it can be sorted out in time, and you will be a lot calmer throughout the whole process of actually writing your essay. (Plus I will also be on placement in January so it will be very hard for me to give them in then anyway!)

So keeping this in mind, I made a plan on what I need to do for each essay and gave myself a time frame for when it should be completed by. I also left an ‘extra’ time space in case anything unpredictable happens. So far it’s going well!

Now that it’s almost December you probably also have a lot of work due soon, so you could do the same thing. You just…

1. Write down all your essays that are due
2. The date that is due for

Tip: Write down an earlier date than it’s actually due for.

(I must admit hat doesn’t quite work for me, I would know at the back of my mind when it’s for. It’s the same with time -I decided to set the time 5 minutes forward on my phone that way I won’t be late, but now every time I look at my phone I automatically add five minutes! – however everyone is different so if that works for you then by all means you should do it)

    3. Then you write down what you need to do for each one- the more detailed the better!

4. Give yourself a time frame for when each part needs to be completed by

I find writing them down as a list or in a table format really helps, I also leave space where I can tick it off- I enjoy doing that as I feel I could see my progress!

If you need any more help with essay writing or things related, it will be really useful to book an appointment with Jacqui Ridge-Stearn, she offers appoints and workshops to all students. 

(Jacqui’s email: J.Ridge-Stearn@staff.newman.ac.uk)

 

Okay, so since my last blog, as well as beginning to plan all my essays, other exciting things have been happening.

One of these was being a volunteer at ‘resurrecting the book’ conference at the library of Birmingham.  This was such a great event! Speakers from all over the world came together to celebrate the opening of the largest library in Europe. They spoke about different aspects of books taking on different angels, as well as speaking about the future of books.  It was great hearing different interpretations, especially when you think you knew a text or a poem, only then for it to be interpreted in such a way as though it’s a totally new story. Or reading a book and thinking ‘oh great this is a simple book’ then all of a sudden all the ‘little’ details are pointed out and you realise that there is a lot more to it than you think! Totally shocks you! It Really questions what you think you knew…I like things like that (This is one of the reasons why I enjoy my critical approaches class!)

Anyway it was great hearing the diverse views, and I loved how everyone came with their own voice and told their own story! It was exciting listening to what they had to say, and I felt very inspired by the end of it! It was also great meeting all the different academics; I got in contact with some of the speakers since, building contacts is very important you know!

 

One of the visiting speakers: Professor Sir David Cannadine from Princeton university USA

While we’re on the topic of speakers, creative writing is a module in which we are fortunate enough to get an inspiring speaker every year!  This year we had Jonathan Taylor (author, poet and scriptwriter) who gave us a workshop class; he was great and gave us lots of tips on how to improve our writing.

Jonathan Taylor

 

We also had the opportunity in creative writing, to visit the German markets, which was also great. It was fun looking at all the different things with each other. it made us feel like journalist! Creating a story inspired by what we see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also now at Newman the Language café has started! WAHOO!!  This is basically a social club where students from Newman come together, meet new people and just have some fun really. There’s always free food as well, which is always a great thing! Right? The last one went great; those who came really enjoyed it!  So if you haven’t been I really do advise you to. It takes place in the bar on Wednesday and it will now start at 2.30 (all details will be confirmed in an email…so do look out for this). Do take notice of these group emails; you may be missing out on some great opportunities!

Food!

 

Hot drink anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget there’s a lot more to university than just lectures! 😀

 

So that’s it for now, Let me know if you have any questions!

And thank you for reading!

Tahne.

A Minute to the Deadline! (scroll down to vote)

I had this idea of writing a blog about assignments for quite a while now, as I thought it will be useful to you, but I decided to wait until I have given in my first essay. This way I could be more specific with my points, and able to remember the exact situation. My first essay was only just given in, so I think this is a perfect time for me to write this.

Being an earthling for two decades now, I have encountered three types of people; those who can count and those who can’t.

No I’m joking. There are three types of people- when it comes to writing essays- These are:

1. Those who start early/write a plan/organised etc.
2. Those who ‘say’ they will start ‘today’ or ‘tomorrow’ … but never do- OR ‘start’ by writing the title page and a single line then feel proud of themselves for starting so early. So they decide to have a bit of a break …for about two weeks.
3. And those who insist ‘I always leave it to the last minute, but its OK! I work well under pressure!’

So if you are a number ‘one’ type of person…or closely related, then kudos to you. It’s always great to prepare early to avoid any drastic situation.

…keep reading for an example!

For the other two types of people, I want to tell you a real story that was passed on to me and affected my approach to essays. Sarah Newson, a good friend of mine, has allowed me to share her story with you, which will hopefully also be of benefit to you.

So Sarah had an essay to give in for the 15th of November; she decided to start working on it in about October. So she made a plan and according to her plan she would have completed her essay by the start of November. However everyday she would plan to start… but never did. Days and days passed by, then eventually she was so frustrated that everyone else is almost finished, that she decided to finally begin. She made a start…however it wasn’t enough. To fast forward this story, it was now the 10th of November and she still had a large proportion of her essay to complete.

She kept working at it till eventually on the day itself she still had a little bit left to do. However this ‘ little bit’ wasn’t so little (she was unaware of this at the time). The deadline for handing essays in is 12:00. At 9 she was still working on it, and at 10…and at 11…and 11.30.

She then decided it’s time to stop and print it off, she had half an hour. However when she went to print it the printer was not working! She tried the other printers but they to were not working! It was now 11.40. She asked the librarian and they informed her that the printers have stopped and anything important can be printed in the hub. So she ran to the hub! It was 11.45-her heart pumping and her legs shaking!

Once getting there she was told she had to email it first. With no other choice she ran back to the library and sent her work. Running back to the hub, it was now 11.50…she had to wait in the queue before getting it printed. Its 11.52. Then approaching the printers, the large piles of papers were taking their time to come out. But then she realised that they have come out wrong as the format changed, and had to re-print everything! It’s 11.55. She felt powerless waiting for them to come out.

One…

by…

…one.

11.56…11.57. She thought of an idea, while its printing she can fill in her cover sheet. Once she finished her cover sheet, the papers were printed, and it was 11.58. Quickly she put them in the paper wallet, gave them a quick glance to check they were in the right order and gave it in…at 11.59. A Minute to the Deadline.

Ok I fine I’ll admit it, Sarah Newson is actually me…that was probably obvious. And this happened on Friday. I don’t know if there is someone called Sarah Newson, if you are a Sarah Newson… sorry your name just appeared in my head…somehow…

So what can you learn from this?

Well I hope now you have seen leaving it late could have serious consequences. Every bad thing that could happen…happened! And it could happen to anyone. I could have written a blog, simply listing what you could do to manage your time, but there are so many resources and data about this on-line and in books, and I’m sure you’ve heard them time and time over! But you know-You can read all the books you want, you can search on-line, you can go to work shops and learn about it…but at the end of the day you just have to do it.

Action is everything.

The sooner you learn that the better. Even if you do work well under pressure, starting early and spending just a little bit more time could be worth that extra mark. And don’t underestimate how long something can take you, always leave a bit of gap, anything can happen. Don’t realise this when it’s too late. That was my first essay of the year, and now experiencing that, I am more than determined to begin all my others as soon as possible, and I hope you are too!

Thank you for reading! Don’t forget to ‘like’ and ‘follow’ so you are notified when I post new blogs!

As always let me know if you have any questions, always happy to help!

Tahne

Edit:

So after writing this post and hearing some of your responses, I was really curious, and I’m sure you are too, on how the majority of students approach essays. 

 So I decided to make a poll! Please fill in your vote to which option best fits you.

I also think that this is a great way for you readers to get more involved (rather than just reading).

 I have kept the results private for now (so not to influence your result) and will reveal them next week.

(Let me know if you have any questions)

Thank you.