Help. Im very stressed about my studies in this semster

Hi, im a fresher. I'm only taking 12 credits (im 3 credits behind), and im taking German History:1914-1945, General Biology, General Physics, and English Language course.

Im really stressed on the workload, specifically for my History course. Every week, i'm assigned about 60 pages of assigned reading per week (the reading will be covered in my midterm essay and midterm examination), and I'm about to lose my mind because my reading comprehension is only mediocre, and consequently i spend more time on reading the history reading then i spent my time revising other courses. Since the reading is a lot for me, i don't get enough time to revise what i've learnt in lectures for other course. Plus i live 1-2 hours away from the uni, so i have less time available for me at home.
I can't stop thinking about my grades. Im constantly worried that i will flunk this semester.

I don't know what to do, its so difficult to catch up now. Week 3's reading material was 100 pages long (which was last week, so it took up a lot of my time), i didn't finish the last 30 pages. While i did not do week 2's reading material, only did 10/60 pages because our lecturer only told us about it 2 days before it was to be discussed on our tutorial session.

Reply 1

The Empire Odyssey

21

Original post by Guppies

Hi, im a fresher. I'm only taking 12 credits (im 3 credits behind), and im taking German History:1914-1945, General Biology, General Physics, and English Language course.

Im really stressed on the workload, specifically for my History course. Every week, i'm assigned about 60 pages of assigned reading per week (the reading will be covered in my midterm essay and midterm examination), and I'm about to lose my mind because my reading comprehension is only mediocre, and consequently i spend more time on reading the history reading then i spent my time revising other courses. Since the reading is a lot for me, i don't get enough time to revise what i've learnt in lectures for other course. Plus i live 1-2 hours away from the uni, so i have less time available for me at home.
I can't stop thinking about my grades. Im constantly worried that i will flunk this semester.

I don't know what to do, its so difficult to catch up now. Week 3's reading material was 100 pages long (which was last week, so it took up a lot of my time), i didn't finish the last 30 pages. While i did not do week 2's reading material, only did 10/60 pages because our lecturer only told us about it 2 days before it was to be discussed on our tutorial session.

Why are you struggling with the reading? Is it a time management issue, on your part or is it solely to do with your mediocre English? If it's the former, you should manage your time better and start making a list of things that you need to do, and another list of things that can wait. Sometimes it's not useful to go over lecture (notes). It can be and often is just a waste of time, especially if you a) understand the lecture or/and b) if you're not going to be tested on what you've learned until a later date. If it's the latter, check your uni's academic services. They may have free English language courses for students whom English is not their first language. If your uni takes on a lot of international/foreign students, then it's more than likely they'll have such a course. These course help you to understand how to read academic English and how to write it too.

If you live 1-2 hours away, can you not use your commuting time to read these 60 pages? I'm a Lit and Philosophy graduate, so I probably can't empathise with you on the reading scale as 60pp is not a lot. However, saying that, you should dedicate half a day or perhaps even one day out of your week to just sit down and read the assigned reading and pay no mind to the clock in the room. Take as much time as you need to read, understand and digest what you've just read. Take notes if you have to.

For me, it sounds like you're putting too much pressure on yourself. I have a sneaky suspicion that you don't need to revise EVERYTHING you've just learned from each lecture or each module, until the time comes for it. So reshuffle your time and work on the stuff that needs your immediate attention and then go back to the other stuff nearer the time of the deadline.

Good luck!

Reply 2