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!