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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be crying over a uni assignment?

37 replies

uniassignmentnightmare · 23/01/2021 16:29

I feel so fucking stupid .

I took two long years out of uni due to health issues . All that time I didn’t think I’d ever have a chance of returning and so didn’t look at my uni stuff once .

October made the choice I’d go back, but it was after Christmas before it was all confirmed .

I’m two weeks in now .

Have been given an assignment with about a week’s notice to complete . The assignment is based on work class have done for the last six months . They’re doing it in groups - I’m doing it myself .

It’s work I did in 2018 and don’t really remember all that well .

I could sit and cry, I don’t understand the assignment and feel so bloody stupid . I don’t know what to do to make myself understand it, I’ve gone through the lecture slides, watched YouTube videos , read textbook, and still confused !

AIBU to feel so bloody frustrated? I don’t want to fail but dint want to email the lecturer and say I don’t understand either , because that’s just as bad surely !

OP posts:

Lougle · 23/01/2021 16:31

Start from the beginning. What subject is it?

Cornetttttto · 23/01/2021 16:31

Email and explain what you've just said. You've had 2 years off, you need to catch up. Is it possible to restart or redo the year?

itbemay1 · 23/01/2021 16:32

Tell us more and we may be able to help. What's it about? Word count? But don't stress.

SquishySquirmy · 23/01/2021 16:32

Email the lecturer.
Have a break to clear your head - sounds like you maybe have a mental block with this piece of work?
Send the email today. Do not wait until the due date!

isthistoonosy · 23/01/2021 16:32

Email your tutor, explain calmly and ask for help. There is no point just sitting alone trying to fix this. Maybe you could do this module next year instead.

HappyTimeTunnelDinosaur · 23/01/2021 16:34

I know you said you don't want to speak to the lecturer but that is what they are there for. I'd email and ask for a zoom chat or similar, they will probably be happy to help. If you really can't face that then break down the question, then make a rough plan with bullet points on the bits you do know, then start to flesh that out. Honestly, you will do fine, just make it smaller rather than focussing on the whole at once.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 23/01/2021 16:34

What subject is it? There are lots of knowledgeable people on here who may help you decode it.

Hardbackwriter · 23/01/2021 16:34

It absolutely isn't just as bad to email the lecturer - I would 100% have always wanted to hear from a student in this situation and would have been enormously sympathetic. Joining mid-year like this after such a long gap is really tough - is there any room to revisit that decision? Completely understand if waiting until the autumn isn't an option, though - but if that's the case then you need to be brave and vocal about saying you're going to need extra support (and that really should have been discussed in detail before allowing you to join the year at this point) because otherwise you're not giving yourself a reasonable chance.

Doggybiccys · 23/01/2021 16:35

OP this is awful on the part of the Uni. You should absolutely not be getting assessed with such short notice. It should also be equitable - so unless it was an individual assessment when you last attended then changed to group work when you were off, you should be doing the same. Speak to your student union rep. Not acceptable.

Imiss2019 · 23/01/2021 16:36

Sounds like you need to redo the whole module and might need to defer starting back until you can.

Have you emailed your tutor and explained that you can’t complete this work? I’d worry less about not doing it as a group (bloody loathed doing group assignments at uni)

What subject are you doing and what’s the assignment?

Monr0e · 23/01/2021 16:36

Absolutely email your tutor, they are their to help.

Is there chance of seeing an example to help you understand what is expected?

Original poster

uniassignmentnightmare · 23/01/2021 16:42

Don’t want to write subject/assignment on this thread as I suspect tutors if they use mumsnet will know exactly who I am, there’s only 40 of us in the class .

I’ve got a call on Monday and Wednesday with uni support workers to try and help me transition back to study so am going to explain this, I’m feeling totally overwhelmed .

Other classes are fine, it’s this module that I’m struggling with !

Will make another thread under different nam explaining subject to see if anyone can help at all ... and will definitely email lecturer too, see what she suggests ...

I’ve got loads of examples but can’t make it fit what I’m doing - it’s one of these things they don’t teach at school (or they didn’t when I learnt Enlgish anyway) so totally bewildered .

Thanks 😊

OP posts:

BlueSuffragette · 23/01/2021 16:42

I'd speak to your tutor. Explain what you've said here. Ask if you can have a 1:1 tutorial as a refresher as you've had such a long gap. Don't just suffer and stress. Seek help from the uni staff.

slashlover · 23/01/2021 16:43

I've cried over uni assignments before, had a little cry yesterday about statistics. Absolutely email your tutor as mine has provided phone support before and helped me so much.

slashlover · 23/01/2021 16:45

I’ve got loads of examples but can’t make it fit what I’m doing - it’s one of these things they don’t teach at school (or they didn’t when I learnt Enlgish anyway) so totally bewildered .

I was like that with referencing to begin with.

TeenagePITA · 23/01/2021 16:46

@slashlover

I've cried over uni assignments before, had a little cry yesterday about statistics. Absolutely email your tutor as mine has provided phone support before and helped me so much.

I thought it was mandatory to cry over statistics?

OP, no one can be expected to retain info from a lectures 2 years in the past.

You need to get some help and support here, it's not possible to get a good mark.

MolotovMocktail · 23/01/2021 16:52

OP I would be contacting the school and applying for an extension under extenuating circumstances. It is very unreasonable for you to be expected to do this assessment in so little time, and under different circumstances to the other students.

burnoutbabe · 23/01/2021 17:02

I suppose it's either a choice to continue the module and do an assignment or resit the whole module? Which i assume costs more?

Is it based in tings you did 2 years ago and do you have access to that information (ie can you still access the lectures and tutorials/reading lists)

scpips · 23/01/2021 17:11

I am a university lecturer.
If you were my student I would definitely want you to get in touch with me. It is often difficult to know when students are struggling, but now when everyone is online it is a 100 times harder. I am not in the U.K. so I don't know how things are functioning at the moment, but I find that most issues students have are quite easily resolved with a Zoom meeting (or more if needed).
I know that at the moment many of my students are finding things really hard, and as I keep saying to them, we need them more than ever to get in touch and tell us. So do send your tutor/lecturer an email, outline what it is that you are finding challenging about the task they have set, and ask them if they can help/give some advice.

Camomila · 23/01/2021 17:22

I've cried over uni assignments before, had a little cry yesterday about statistics.
I did a statistics dissertation summer 2020, I alternated between working, crying and eating chocolate to get through it.

Another person saying to chat to your tutor Mine was very supportive when I went back after maternity leave and felt like I'd forgotten half the course.

ItsAScream · 23/01/2021 17:27

It’s sad to read this, but you really don’t need to cope alone. Email your lecturer, tell them you’re feeling overwhelmed and why. I’m sure they’ll want to help.

TheMarzipanDildo · 23/01/2021 17:28

I’ve cried over many an assignment now OP, and I haven’t taken any years out! In my experience if you just keep plugging away and reading around the subject it will eventually click, but in the meantime definitely email the lecturer.

DanceWithYourBalloon · 23/01/2021 17:28

You're lecturer wants you to do well and should be supportive of you get in touch to go through a few things.
There's no such thing as a stupid question if you don't know the answer.

EggyPegg · 23/01/2021 17:31

@Camomila

I've cried over uni assignments before, had a little cry yesterday about statistics. I did a statistics dissertation summer 2020, I alternated between working, crying and eating chocolate to get through it.

Another person saying to chat to your tutor Mine was very supportive when I went back after maternity leave and felt like I'd forgotten half the course.

Statistics caused me to change my degree! Got through my Y1 modules and then the Y2 ones broke me. Realised that I hated them, I didn't care about them and that I certainly didn't want to study even harder ones in Y3. Realised my uni offered a degree that was much more suited to what I do day to day and plan to do in the future, and did a credit migration over to it. Absolutely the right choice for me.

@uniassignmentnightmare

Definitely email your tutor. I would recommend deferring this module until September and focusing on the other ones between now and then.

Thebumblingdark · 23/01/2021 17:32

I'm also a lecturer, you must email them.

Anyone coming back from a break in study will need extra support, this shouldn't come as a suprise to them.

Ask for a meeting on zoom etc. I doubt the person who set this for you fully appreciated the situation you were in when it was given to you.

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