January 17, 2018, by Lucy
How to Handle Coursework Stress
It is a thing nobody talks about. Lecturers constantly speak of remaining calm whilst doing coursework and exams, but never do they mention the stress that comes during the process of handing in coursework. I must admit that I am a naturally stressy person, but having consulted a number of impartial sources (ahem, my housemates), I can conclude that the stress is real, unless I live in a house full of anomalies in which this post is a bit pointless. Nevertheless, save yourself the dread of submission and listen to someone who’s been there and done that. Trust me, if there’s a stress to be had, I’ve had it.
Turnitin
So, you’ve completed your essay. Whether it took three solid months of intricate planning and grafting, or whether it took three hours of coffee induced labour, here you are. Despite turnitin being designed to ensure minimal hassle when it comes to deadlines, it doesn’t stop the self-induced panic that can occur when the submit button is staring you in the face. Although I cannot make the ‘submit’ button disappear, what I can do is state how to make sure your submission goes as smoothly as possible. Save your work under a clear name to make sure that you’re actually submitting the correct essay and not a poem you wrote in year six about your pet dog. Follow the guidelines set by your module when it comes to naming your document – usually it includes your student ID, the module code and the academic year, but again I would always check. Lastly, remember to get your pen out! When submitting, remember to write down your word count and turn it in submission ID to save the hassle of finding this all out later on.
Printing
Print ahead of your deadline. By early, I do not mean half an hour. Fair enough if you have your own printer and can absolutely, definitely, most certainly, 100% guarantee that you won’t experience any technical faults in the process, but otherwise I’d rather be safe than sorry. If you’re relying on library resources to print your coursework then get there out of peak times since you’ll avoid the queues and the common problem of going on a scavenger hunt to find a printer with an ample ink supply.
Student Services
Here comes the big one. This is where the big guns come out and the stress reaches it climax. For those of you who enjoy being smug (i.e. Me), print and fill out the coursework submission sheet before you reach services so that you can wander on in get a time stamp and say adios to all the other students scribbling away. If not, then you may want to buckle down your seat belts.
So, the cover sheet looks daunting at first – so many boxes, so much information, so much stress. Just be prepared!! Make sure you have a note of your student ID and turnitin submission code as well as the information regarding your course and specific work (e.g. Covenor, tutor, deadline time, word count, page number, etc). Unless you enjoy the stress of being in Primark at a lunchtime on a Sunday then I would head down to student Services before the usual 3pm deadline to ensure that submission is as fail safe as possible.
Having filled out and stapled the cover sheet to your work, you will be required to get a time stamp. Although it may seem simple enough, the innocent looking thing as brought fear to my eyes on numerous occasions – I cannot be the only one who has difficulty aligning a stamp with a box?? Seamlessly glide the printed box under the stamp (or maybe try ten times to get it right, I don’t know your skill level) and post your essays into the according departmental box.
Coursework submission needn’t be panic inducing again… or until next time, time stamp, I will never understand how you work…
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