Should I be worried?

[worrywarr]

I am in second and final year of my postgraduate studies. I have just started my final placement on Monday.

I am sitting with a distinction and did really well on my last placement. Have a great relationship with my personal tutor.

I logged into my student email and have a Microsoft meeting invite from the head of my course and module coordinator. The subject line is 'on campus worrywarr and module coordinator name - catch up'.

I haven't had any contact with him since December last year and have checked with my classmates to see if they have to meet with him, which they don't. He provided no context, no 'hello, thought we should meet to discuss....'

I have also checked with my personal tutor who doesn't know what it's about but is chasing it up. My uni is 50 miles away so means I have to take the morning off of placement also.

I am just really worried that something is wrong. I have never been called to a meeting with him. I'm worried there's been a complaint made or something? But I honestly can't think of anything I've done. I hold on to hope that if it was something serious he would have to let me know?

Should I be worried? My personal tutor said that she doesn't know if he'll respond before meeting as he isn't officially back in uni yet and I honestly just feel sick at the thought of waiting all weekend then having to drive 50 miles to uni.

Academic here, @worrywarr.

I would have reacted the same way that you are, but I think those reactions are based in the power differential. Cast your mind back. If you haven’t compromised your academic integrity during your programme or had a placement go pear shaped in the last few months, how bad could it be? The worst I can think of is that you are training for a public facing profession and your tutors or placement supervisors perceive that you need grooming tips, or something similar. Or older supervisors find your manner over familiar? But before you worry, I am really stretching even for those examples!

This being the module supervisor I think it is equally likely to be good news but that is also far from guaranteed. The one thing I feel sure of is that if your conscience is clear you aren’t in trouble! A distinction and strong placements should leave you feeling calm and ‘oh, I wonder what interesting thing this will be about?’ Take care

If you were in trouble I don't think it would be titled 'catch up.'

I agree, that with your history, it is much more likely to be good news or the prospect of an invitation to progress on to a higher level of study/job offer.

Good luck.

I would try really hard to relax about it. If you'd done something wrong, you'd know, if you were failing (you're not) you'd also know. I think they didn't communicate very thoroughly with you and so it's left this air of mystery. It's just because he is a bad communicator / not trying to soften the edges of quite a formal request.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me, I really appreciate it. It was actually the wrong student he sent this to, must of been another student with the same first name. Panic over 😅 can you tell I am a drama queen? 😂