What I wish I’d known about studying English at university

Finishing assignments the day before the deadline doesn’t make you a bad student, but it does make you a stressed one

Just like most students when they begin university, I started out with the best of intentions:

“2,000 words on structural inequalities in newspapers? No problem mate, I’ll get it finished tomorrow”.

“That task due next month? Did it this week, didn’t I”.

But as time passes, standards start to slip; you never mean for it to happen but it’s human nature for complacency to set in and an “I’ll do it tomorrow” mindset to materialise. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself up late, hours before a deadline, desperately searching for quotes and scrambling to reference.

It might turn out okay but it’s not worth the drama – even a small amount of organisation can make a world of difference to your stress levels. Trust me on this.

Lack of contact hours are a curse, not a blessing

What you may have heard about English degrees – that they’re sometimes low on contact hours and can cultivate a lethargy that’s hard to shake off – is, alas, generally true.

I loved the idea of minimal lecture time and the freedom it brought, and at times it can be genuinely liberating to realise you’re not as tied down by fixed hours as some of your friends on other courses.

Despite this, it can lead to your days becoming structureless and the work you do have becoming a real chore. My advice: NIP THIS IN THE BUD! Your lie-ins getting longer and longer, multiple hours spent watching Netflix and a growing mountain of washing-up are all signs that maybe your lack of contact time is making you lazy.

Be prepared to combat this or, if you’re still finalising your place at uni and this doesn’t sound great for you, maybe look into combining English with another subject. Just to mix it up a bit.

You don't need to do ALL the recommended reading 

University, like life, is largely about compromise; in this case the compromise between feeling clued up on all your modules and not wanting to read so much you never want to read again.

Set novels/texts are obviously not to be missed but theory-based reading can often feel overwhelming. The answer to this is to be selective and make sure you don’t burn yourself out – most lecturers will give you reams of articles and theory to read but finding the key points is often fine, reading literally everything will destroy your capacity to retain information anyway.

Never feel guilty for not reading everything that exists on a topic, do as much as you’re able to easily retain and then go for a walk, or watch some trash TV, or anything else you enjoy that will help you unwind. You’ll be fine, honest.

Trying to write beautifully won’t always get you good grades

I found I went into university wanting to show that I could write assignments with flair and panache but quickly discovered this was getting me nowhere. I think it’s a trait of English students that we want to show off our writing while what’s really required is a more analytical approach to the subject matter.

Don’t panic if this doesn’t come naturally – it can be a pain but by second or third year you’ll find you’re thinking in a completely different way to how you approached your studies previously.

If you want to keep writing creatively or develop a portfolio of your more interesting work you can always do this in a personal capacity. Thankfully it didn’t take me long to realise that I wasn’t East London’s answer to Oscar Wilde but I wish I’d have known to tone it down a bit from the start.

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