First Paper jitters

[NavyMom]

Does anyone have their first assignment yet?   I have one.  Due on the 26th.  It is a silly little one, but still.... it's giving my stomach flip/flops. 

 

It's a 2-3 page "memo" but they are using it as a baseline for writing skills.  I know I am not perfect, and I do not expect to be... but I am terrified on how "bad" it will be and disappointing the professor.

 

Am I just freaking out for nothing? 

[GeoDUDE!]

Yes.

[fuzzylogician]

Yes. Don't over think it. If you give them work that is not representative, they will find out soon enough. Try and do as you normally would for an assignment and you'll learn soon enough whether it's what they expect or not. It's hard to guess before you've even tried, though.

[peachypie]

remember you are a student and its about learning.  As long as you improve as you go I'm sure they will be fine with what your first assignment is.  As people mentioned its important to get a baseline for people since everyone is coming from different universities and have different backgrounds and what work is expected of them.  Its easy to get a feel for the students this way, don't look at is as a way to determine future success though!

[ecm07e]

I haven't even gotten my syllabus yet! 

[Threeboysmom]

I have a ton of writing assignments due.  However I've chosen to start on the one that I think will be the hardest for me.  If that makes sense.  We need to use at least ten sources for the paper five of them must be from peer review journals.  I feel in over my head and that was only the first class.  Yikes. 

[NavyMom]

Yes. Don't over think it. If you give them work that is not representative, they will find out soon enough. Try and do as you normally would for an assignment and you'll learn soon enough whether it's what they expect or not. It's hard to guess before you've even tried, though.

 

Thank you!  I did exactly that.  I went over it a number of extra times... but that's all I could do...

 

remember you are a student and its about learning.  As long as you improve as you go I'm sure they will be fine with what your first assignment is.  As people mentioned its important to get a baseline for people since everyone is coming from different universities and have different backgrounds and what work is expected of them.  Its easy to get a feel for the students this way, don't look at is as a way to determine future success though!

 

Yeah, from what I understand this is the "baseline" paper... and from there we're going to be broken down and rebuilt like bootcamp.  I just hope I wont have to be broken too much. 

 

I haven't even gotten my syllabus yet! 

 

Lucky!  I got my syllabi in the first week of July...  Had so many books to read, publications, theses, and 3 papers to write by the first weekend.  One of the papers was due today... I turned it in last week.

 

I have a ton of writing assignments due.  However I've chosen to start on the one that I think will be the hardest for me.  If that makes sense.  We need to use at least ten sources for the paper five of them must be from peer review journals.  I feel in over my head and that was only the first class.  Yikes. 

 

Ugh.  I hope all is well with you hon.  I am using my 3 day weekend this weekend to make sure I am caught up on everything and prepared.  So nervous!

[adela]

At least one of my courses is extremely writing-intensive. Another one is fairly writing-intensive. So yeah, our assignments an expectations have been laid out pretty well.

 

Fortunately the professors seem like pretty awesome people. They've told us up front that they WILL mark up our papers. It's not to be mean, however. They just want to make us better writers. So, ya gotta just write and see where you land. 

 

Right now I'm just mulling over the possible topics I can attack for my lit review, since it will probably help as a launching pad for my master's thesis.

[Threeboysmom]

^^^My professor just said yesterday whatever topics were interested in write about them and then when its time for a thesis you already have a wealth of information. 

[NavyMom]

^^^My professor just said yesterday whatever topics were interested in write about them and then when its time for a thesis you already have a wealth of information. 

 

That's great advice...    I did pick a topic for my first paper that was a touchy subject in California.... yay learning to write policies.

[Threeboysmom]

That's great NavyMom!

[LittleDarlings]

I have my first reflection paper due on the 9th and I am nervous, I am not a great paper writer so believe me I am panicked. I am ordering my APA manual today! Good luck! 

[jhefflol]

From my experience, professors acknowledge that each professor has his or her own style of writing/grading that they prefer. Usually I have been assigned a short paper near the beginning of the semester just so us students can gauge the way the professor wants things done without having to deal with the learning curve on a larger assignment. 

Good luck, and try not to stress!

[NavyMom]

From my experience, professors acknowledge that each professor has his or her own style of writing/grading that they prefer. Usually I have been assigned a short paper near the beginning of the semester just so us students can gauge the way the professor wants things done without having to deal with the learning curve on a larger assignment. 

Good luck, and try not to stress!

 

Im trying not to stress.... but it's there.  I am just currently trying to focus on the reading part of it... and make sure I have read all the assignments before class begins.  I know I will be lost anyway, but at least I will have something to go to class with.

[Threeboysmom]

Im trying not to stress.... but it's there.  I am just currently trying to focus on the reading part of it... and make sure I have read all the assignments before class begins.  I know I will be lost anyway, but at least I will have something to go to class with.

At least you will be well versed with the reading material and so that should make you feel better.  I don't know that there is a way around the stress but focus on your studies a little at a time each day, which I should be doing instead of on the grad cafe.  

[danieleWrites]

I didn't get a new paper jitter until the seminar paper I had to write for a seminar course. I'm a writer by profession and avocation, so I've been spewing crap out for decades and never getting called on it for being crap (I have turned in waaaaay too many rough drafts as first drafts simply because I can make a gorgeous sentence but the proverbial slap in the face I got--an F with the option to revise--from an English prof who actually did his job with me is another story). I'm not at all nervous about writing. But then came the seminar paper. In grad school. In a life where publish or perish is carved over the gate rather than abandon hope, all ye who enter.

 

New paper jitters would have been lovely. Instead, I got The Paper That Ate My Life. I was given an incomplete so I could complete the paper (it often happens in seminar courses, my prof told me), and by the time I'd gotten the paper completed, I had learned a significant portion of a related field because I'd mowed through the library trying to put off actually putting the paper together. I just knew that everything I was writing was factually wrong and I needed more research to make sure it wasn't. So when I finally get the paper done, I have a two hour conference with the professor so I could explain some things (including a bibliography that was fifteen pages long and nearly three-quarters of entries were in a different field) that she didn't actually know enough about to evaluate. I expected that because I'm doing interdisciplinary work without actually being in an interdisciplinary program, but not that much discussion.

 

Moral of the story: instead of tying myself up in mental knots over my lack of knowing absolutely everything, I've told myself that it's okay to be wrong because I can always tweak the draft when someone points out that I'm wrong. I'm told it works in conferences, too. "I hadn't thought of that; if you want to give me email address afterwards, I'll look it over and get back to you."

[Threeboysmom]

I've collected ten peer review journal articles and I'm ordering two or three books for my first paper. I've decided to set aside a portion of my study time each day to the paper. Hopefully, I can get a good start and send it to my professor so she can let me know I'm on the right path or how I need to revise. I am uncomfortable writing long papers because my training as a journalist has taught me how to remove the fluff. Now I have to retrain myself to add the fluff back in. Oh boy....

[juilletmercredi]

I looked back on my first paper I ever wrote for graduate school a few weeks ago - I was preparing a session on graduate school for my students.  Wow, it was terrible!  I mean - it wasn't bad when I wrote it.  In fact, it was really good for my level.  But 6 years of writing experience later I realize all the things that could be improved upon.

 

I say this to say that your first paper is supposed to be kind of terrible in an absolute sense.  I mean, work hard on it!  But realize that it won't be perfect and your professors are not expecting perfection.  They want to see where you are and they want to help you improve, which you will, over time.

[Threeboysmom]

First paper is due Monday 9/22 I am almost finished with it.  Feeling pretty good about it.  I think once I receive a grade  then I can focus on the areas that need improvement.  The biggest adjustment for me is getting used to APA format.    Thanking my lucky stars for the APA Manual, Zotero, and YouTube.