Everything that happens during the last few days before a uni deadline

There are two types of student: those who spend the last few days before a deadline chilling out and sleeping peacefully because everything’s already finished and handed-in, and those who spend them doing the following…

Three days before the deadline.

‘’Okay,” you think to yourself. “I’ve got loads of time before I need this finished, I don’t even need to think about panicking yet.’’

You’re wrong. You know you’re wrong. But it’s the same story every time.
Three days to write a several-thousand-word essay is not ‘loads of time’. Even for the sanest of people, attempting to write a (half decent) piece of academic of writing in just 72 hours is likely to end up with the perpetrator on the floor surrounded by a puddle of tears and countless chocolate wrappers.

But let’s face it, if you don’t leave the most important things until the very last minute, are you even a student?

Typically, three days before a deadline you’re not even close to meeting, every morning, day and night should be spent in the library, reading through books and frantically looking for a member of staff to show you where the leaflets on how to reference are.
Realistically though, this is how you spend your time:

Sitting in the kitchen with friends, moaning about your deadline rather than taking any steps to meet it.

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Making food to eat in your room for when you eventually start working.

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Eating said food in the kitchen with friends to further avoid doing said work.

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Crying into the food because you STILL haven’t started working and you also don’t have clue how to reference properly.

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Ringing up your mum just to let her know that your work is going ‘really well’ when in fact you’ll be lucky if you leave uni with a 2:2.

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Wondering if dropping out is allowed at this point in the semester.

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Two days before the deadline.

Reaching the 48 hour mark, if you weren’t panicking before, you are now. You’re no longer sure why you thought leaving it this late would be a good idea, and can now only hope that you actually do work better under pressure.
Spoiler: you don’t.

Two days before a deadline should find you confidently, albeit hectically, trying to make up for lost time, fuelled by caffeine and sheer desperation.
Instead, two days before a deadline actually finds you…

Trying to find a quiet space in the library to set up your laptop because every computer is already taken by another student who looks equally as stressed.

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Realising that nowhere in the library is quiet because everyone is either confiding in their mate because they’re ‘going to fail’ or they’re muttering to themselves trying to stay sane.

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Not knowing where any of the books you might need will be.

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Not actually knowing which books you need, for that matter.

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Finding some books that look vaguely helpful, but then not knowing where to start with them.

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Drinking allllll the RedBull and ending up with the caffeine shakes and not being able to read or type properly anyway.

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Going home feeling defeated and no closer to finishing the essay.

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One day before the deadline.

It’s looming and it’s not going away. (WHY isn’t it going away?!)
The stress is now real. You can’t go back in time and force yourself to start earlier, and it’s too late to drop out. You have no choice but to lie in the bed you’ve made for yourself (ah, to be able to lie in a bed and not think about this deadline), and accept that this isn’t going to be your best work.
While those students who finished days, weeks, maybe even months ago have already forgotten about this essay as if it’s last week’s Hollyoaks episode, you can be found…

Making sure the word count is correct, +/- 10%. Mainly -10% though, because who wants to write more than is required?

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Crying. Lots of crying.

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Binge eating, because food helps with the pain.

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More tears. This time with a mouthful of snacks, crumbs flying everywhere.

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Asking all your course mates if they’ve finished their essays in a desperate bid to find someone in a worse position than you.

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Writing words without having even the slightest clue what you’re writing about.

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Not sleeping because THERE’S NO TIME TO SLEEP.

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The day of the deadline.It’s here. It’s time to submit your work, ready or not.
Regretting all your life choices, the day of the deadline goes something like this for you…

Re-reading your work for the billionth time and finding another typo every time.