Second Year not sure what to do with University

1

I'm really sorry if this is a really anxious question - I'm a second year history and classics student and Edinburgh. I enjoy my course and I was initially really passionate about, particularly in starting greek (I had never done it before and really wanted to do postgraduate studies in Medieval Greek History). Problem is I'm now finishing my second year, and while my grades are between a 2:1 and a first, mostly in my History essays, I really don't know what I want to do anymore. I like Greek but the work is immense, and because of my meh understanding of it, I'm presumably going to switch to Latin. I'm terrified of Latin though and worried that I haven't done enough Greek or that postgraduate degrees will look unfavourably upon me. Similarly, I can't see myself doing anything really and I'm terrified of not getting a job or a postgraduate. All modules and all seems just bleak and tiresome (or that I can't do it). I'm really sorry for the anxious questions, but does anyone know how to possibly deal with such things, and whether or not my degrees (and possibly modules) will impact my chances of any sort of non-History postgraduate chances with the above?

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

Chester Student

Official Rep

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Original post by NopeNotNeeded

I'm really sorry if this is a really anxious question - I'm a second year history and classics student and Edinburgh. I enjoy my course and I was initially really passionate about, particularly in starting greek (I had never done it before and really wanted to do postgraduate studies in Medieval Greek History). Problem is I'm now finishing my second year, and while my grades are between a 2:1 and a first, mostly in my History essays, I really don't know what I want to do anymore. I like Greek but the work is immense, and because of my meh understanding of it, I'm presumably going to switch to Latin. I'm terrified of Latin though and worried that I haven't done enough Greek or that postgraduate degrees will look unfavourably upon me. Similarly, I can't see myself doing anything really and I'm terrified of not getting a job or a postgraduate. All modules and all seems just bleak and tiresome (or that I can't do it). I'm really sorry for the anxious questions, but does anyone know how to possibly deal with such things, and whether or not my degrees (and possibly modules) will impact my chances of any sort of non-History postgraduate chances with the above?

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with this. Not knowing if you made the right choice or where to go from there is challenging!

I'd recommend talking with the services your university offers. Do you have a personal academic tutor? Careers services? Well-being and support? These services are knowledgeable and there to help you find an answer to these tricky problems, and they are always more than willing to help you. They can help you to understand how you feel about each aspect of your course, whether it would be right for you in the long-term, and the steps you can take to succeed.

If you have a pretty certain idea of what you'd like to do postgraduate and beyond, I'd take a look at the steps you need to get there. Do you have to carry on on this same path, or can you try something else? I find that Prospects always has useful resources for this. Also, if you know what you'd like to do for postgrad, it might be a good idea to shoot them an email/explore the requirements for the course. Exploring these options might help you see a clearer outcome.

Lastly, be kind to yourself. Being unsure of where you'd like to go, what you'd like to do, and how you can get there can be daunting. Make use of the resources at your disposal, take frequent self-care breaks, and have faith that it will all work out!

Best of luck and I hope this helps,

Isabella
Third-year Geography with a Year Abroad Student

Reply 2

hallamstudents

Official Rep

18

Original post by NopeNotNeeded

I'm really sorry if this is a really anxious question - I'm a second year history and classics student and Edinburgh. I enjoy my course and I was initially really passionate about, particularly in starting greek (I had never done it before and really wanted to do postgraduate studies in Medieval Greek History). Problem is I'm now finishing my second year, and while my grades are between a 2:1 and a first, mostly in my History essays, I really don't know what I want to do anymore. I like Greek but the work is immense, and because of my meh understanding of it, I'm presumably going to switch to Latin. I'm terrified of Latin though and worried that I haven't done enough Greek or that postgraduate degrees will look unfavourably upon me. Similarly, I can't see myself doing anything really and I'm terrified of not getting a job or a postgraduate. All modules and all seems just bleak and tiresome (or that I can't do it). I'm really sorry for the anxious questions, but does anyone know how to possibly deal with such things, and whether or not my degrees (and possibly modules) will impact my chances of any sort of non-History postgraduate chances with the above?

HI there,

I'm sorry to hear you have been feeling like this and struggling with this!

My advice would be to talk to people at your university about this. If you have an academic advisor or personal tutor, schedule a meeting with them and tell them all of this and they will be able to help advise you with it all. They will listen to you, can look at your grades and how well you are doing and advise you based on this. They may also be able to tell you what the modules will be in each subject for next year so you can see if you like the sound of them and think you would enjoy them or not. If you decided you wanted to switch, they should also be able to help you through this and tell you how to do it.

Also, talking to your module tutors is a good idea too. They will be able to help you and tell you what they think is the best idea based on how you have been doing and they may also be able to discuss next year's modules with you too. They should be able to give you the best advice as they are the ones who know what each course is about and what will be involved.

I would also see if you could talk to anyone in the year above you that does each course and see if they can give you some insight into which you would prefer. They will have done the course so should have some good insight into this!

It's also a good idea to look into what you might want to do after uni and see if you would need a specific degree to be able to do this as this may help you to make your decision.

I hope some of this helps,

Lucy -SHU student ambassador.

Second Year not sure what to do with University

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