Instructions and matters to consider when evaluating your schedule

3. Cutting the branch you’re sitting on?

Pause for a moment and remember your experiences with studies. Have you often dropped out of a course because it seemed too difficult? Do you avoid situations where you think you might appear stupid or feel embarrassed? How do you react when you fail at something?

If you avoid study-related challenges or put off doing things until the last minute, then you are not giving yourself a chance to succeed. Learning new things is always connected to uncertainty and the risk of failure. Daring to rise to a challenge with the risk of sometimes experiencing unpleasant feelings gives us also the opportunity to experience successes and the joy of learning. Governing one’s emotions involves skills that can be learned.

Accepting challenges is easier if you:

• set reasonable goals for yourself A reasonable goal is one appropriate to your own basic knowledge and the time and other resources you have available.
• break down your goals into small, concrete tasks. This cannot be overstressed!
• study together with others
• get in touch with a student counsellor before avoidance becomes a vicious circle where experiences of failure make you feel like a mediocre student and make you withdraw from an increasing number of situations.