Struggling student

Hey there,

I'm in my first year of studying and I was very excited to be given a place on the course, I attended the first week or two and really enjoyed it, I was on top of my work and definitely felt like one of the smarter people on the course.

I then took a week off lectures as my motivation dropped and I figured I'd pick it up the following week but then I was handed my first assignment and the motivation to do this was always "I'll start it tomorrow", I ended up starting it a day before hand in and noticed most of my research material needed to be done via books at the library.

Anyway, I obviously failed this assignment and now another one looms in 11 days time in which I haven't even started it because I've missed so many lectures I haven't a clue what to even begin with. Apparently if you fail one or two assignments you've pretty much failed the year. Does anybody have any advice on what I can do? I don't have any more lectures until next Monday now, should I ask for a meeting with my lecturer and ask for advice?

Thanks..