Notts students: Here’s how to deal with disappointment on results day

The day that all UoN students have been dreading is finally here – results day. Whether you were slaving away at courseworks or if you had to sit dreaded in person exams, today we find out whether those nights in George Green actually had any impact. As a third year, it feels like my whole degree has been leading up to this fateful moment so I can firmly relate to how everyone is feeling.

While it may feel like today is make or break for your academic career, I’m here to be a rational voice telling you to calm down. There will be grades that you’re over the moon with but it’s inevitable that some of you will be disappointed and that’s completely okay. It just means you care. So, consider this your guide on how to tackle results day and some of those grades that weren’t quite what you wanted them to be.

Be kind to yourself

If there’s one thing that you should be mindful of, it’s the way that you talk to yourself. We’ve all been there – calling yourself stupid and convincing yourself that you’re not cut out for academia or your degree and maybe you should just give up. Snap out of it please. If you wouldn’t talk to your friends like that, then why on Earth are you speaking to yourself like that. All the name calling in the world won’t change the fact that you are a super intelligent person who deserves to be here – they don’t give out UoN places to just anyone you know.

Acknowledge and deal with your feelings

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It’s okay to feel things and much better to express them than bottle them up. Being upset about results is a completely valid emotion, whether that’s one grade or all of them. But it’s time to practice a little self care and do something that’ll make you happy and take your mind off things. Take a walk, scream and cry into a pillow or play some angry music. Whatever you normally do to make yourself feel better. I’d also suggest talking to one of your friends about it. We’ve all been there before and sometimes our friends do actually have some good advice.

Accept the outcome

Easier said than done, but you have to come to the point where you accept that this is where you’re at. The grade wasn’t what you wanted and that is what it is. Sadly, the world doesn’t stop on results day so try and channel that disappointment and use it as motivation going forward. Trust me, in a few days time you’ll have forgotten that today even happened and I can guarantee that no future employer is going to ask for a print out of your marks before they make you a job offer. Take it from someone who’s been here for four years – it’s just a tiny bump in a VERY long uni road.

Put it into perspective

Ask yourself one simple question: is it the end of the world or are you just disappointed? I’m very much one of those girlies that feels like they’ve failed but in reality just got a lower grade than they wanted. However, getting a 2:2 instead of a first still means you have passed the module and you have the credits, just maybe not at the level you wanted. You also need to factor in the weighting of the result in relation to the whole module and the how many credits the module is worth. If you do think there’s no coming back from this then it’s time to take some practical steps. Lucky for you, I have some advice for that too but I know, and you know, there’s no such thing as “no coming back”.

Take practical steps

It’s a harsh reality, but beating yourself up over your grade is not going to change the number on Blue Castle. What you can do, however, is assess your options. The results today are for January exams so you still have a whole semester to go where you can potentially offset some of those lower marks. Equally, if you need to do resits, it’s really not the end of the world. Students up and down the country far beyond Nottingham do resits every year. There are even appeals processes in place if you really feel like you deserved more marks. Make use of the SU and your personal tutor – it’s what they’re there for. If you’re reading this in summer, there’s always the option to resit the year if you’re super unhappy with your grades and if you really feel like uni isn’t for you, that’s not the end of the world either.

Celebrate successes

If there is even one grade that you’re slightly pleased about, then that’s enough reason to celebrate in my book. Uni is far from easy and passing anything at all is no mean feat. Even if you weren’t happy with any of your grades, celebrate the fact that you actually sat your exams or handed in a coursework on time. If none of that rings true either, celebrate your friends’ successes or just getting through another day. If you look hard enough, there’s always something to celebrate.

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