A note from the ATYP office: Jessie Fales, ATYP alum and grader, will be joining our blog this year, posting about issues from all of her points of view - former student, grader, and current college student. We know that Jessie's input will be invaluable, and hope you look forward to hearing what she has to say as much as we do.

Hello ATYPical Nerds, 

This week was my first week of college, and also my first week grading your papers. It’s quite the amusing juxtaposition—on one hand I am a new student myself, but I am also supposed to share my wisdom with you. I’ve learned that ATYP is a lot like college, but I wrote two papers this week instead of four. Also, I have realized that you and I are struggling with the same things. We are asking the same questions: 

How the heck do I format this paper? What does this prompt even mean? Do my teachers like me? Do my teachers like my writing? Will I fall into this dark pit of doom and despair and be eaten by a pack of wolves? 

Seriously, we are fine. 

I, like you, am struggling to keep up with my reading. I’m feeling a bit sleep deprived. I am scared, but also excited, and I am giving it my all, because that’s what we do. Remember, we are not here to be perfect, but we are here to learn. I believe in each and every one of you. It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting at your desks, listening to your teachers, and feeling just as unsure of myself as some of you do now. However, that is the beauty of ATYP. We come in with virtually no experience, and we come out as awesome writers. Nothing could have better prepared me for college. Take advantage of the short time you have in this program.

Stay cool, my friends, Fales

It's the end of the second week of ATYP - and we bet some of you are already feeling overwhelmed. Stop and take a deep breath! It's perfectly normal to struggle some with the challenges of actually having homework you have to think about, learning to organize your time so that you can get it all done, and wondering if you're actually up to the challenge of ATYP.

Here are some important things to remember when tackling your weekly assignments:

1) Look at your commitments for the following week, and be sure to put time to do your homework into your schedule. Don't just assume that the time will magically appear, otherwise it might be the night before class and you could find yourself with several sections of problems/numbers of pages to write. The idea is NOT to stay up until two in the morning finishing your homework.

2) Let go of the idea that your work has to be perfect - especially the first time. Sometimes the idea that everything has to be just right prevents us from getting started. If  you're not sure how to do a problem, come back to it. If you can't think of a good introduction, start with the body of your paper and work back. Remember you can always revisit a math section or edit your paper. That's actually a part of the learning process.

3) Ask for help! You can ask your parents for help with organization and time management. You can email your instructor if you have a question on the assignment. You can talk to the grader if there's a concept you don't understand. And don't forget the other students in your class - sometimes it's helpful to bounce ideas off another person who has read the material. Either of you might have an idea that the other person hadn't thought of.

Sometimes students will think "Wow, if this homework is this hard for me, maybe I'm not really that smart. Maybe I can't do this." Don't worry, it's not you - the homework is supposed to be hard. But we know that you can do it!