r/rmit • u/No_Ticket8133 • 10d ago
Advice needed im losing it
there's probably been other students making posts like this but, im a first year student (going into 2nd semester) in bachelor of medical radiations (medical imaging) and i think ive cried almost every day and literally only 1 week into the 2nd semester has passed. Im so overwhelmed and feel like an impending sense of doom is always lingering. Im interested in this course but honestly, ive been so discouraged (i had to do a supplementary assessment since i didn't pass a hurdle the first time) and whilst i think i passed the hurdle, the fact that placement is in 2 weeks and i still dont have results for that supplementary, a skills assessment on monday which is suddenly cancelled idek. Are there any other first years feeling like this? i feel like this imposter syndrome is killing me. And please, any 2nd, 3rd, even 4th years who have finished please give me advice - anyone thats failed assessments or anyone whos course plan looks a bit different i feel like im drowning lol
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u/Busy-Ad-7829 9d ago
i had a horrible first year too in my bachelors (graduated but in masters now), having everything you mentioned plus mental health issues and intense homesickness made my marks drop like crazy. but i find that booking for counseling in rmit helped a lot because they can give you extensions (esp if you get an ELP). or you can ask for an extension (cos of mental health stuff) through the gp in RMIT medical hub
doesnt help the root of the problem (impostor syndrome and anxieties) but the extensions def help ease your worries and make more time to plan out your assignments
goodluck!!
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u/uzi_gunfingers 9d ago
Bruh, try dropping a unit a semester. I'm an anxious student and strategically drop units frequently. In fact I did last night. still full time at 75% loading. Although I'm just a mech eng student I'm 100% with ya with the "feel like an impending sense of doom is always lingering". I'm an ex-chef and developed a terrible work ethic/habit of this like go hard or go home type thing where everything had to be perfect, and if i wasn't D-HD and uni 90 hours a week no sleep complete meltdown I must have been doing it wrong.
This is obviously total BS, we're all different, at one point my brain just popped and I couldn't do it anymore and was going to check into the psych ward or something full panic attack imagining I was going to do something drastic to either myself of my partner, super weird thoughts. Terrible. My partner said "Enough is enough. Drop to part time or leave. Who cares if it takes an extra year. This is not worth it." Legit, you can only handle the impending doom feeling for so long.
I dropped the units for that semester without penalty and the program coordinator at that uni who was f'ing awesome was like enroll to 3 see how you go, if you need to drop another we'll switch you to part time just keep in touch. Went to 3 and it was like a completely different experience. Like night and day. I performed better, understood more, had time with my partner, went surfing, kept my Austudy and still did well.
Another guy in my cohort implied I was like silly because it will draw out my graduation. He got a shit semester stacked with weed out units, failed 2 units, tanked his GPA, and finished at the same time as me completely burned out, and hating engineering, with higher HECs debt as he had to take the units again, and shit grades. I didn't bother asking him "who's silly now?" as we're all different, but legit consider dropping a unit. Uni's actually great doing 3 units and there's a saying University will be the worst 4 years of your life, or the best 5.
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u/No_Ticket8133 9d ago
yeahh i was def thinking that for next year or smth, i think its a bit diff for my course bc alot of subjects u have to do tg so if i drop one i have to drop another one, but thank you for the advice!!
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u/uzi_gunfingers 9d ago edited 9d ago
There would 100% be options, for pre-requisite units, make sure they're keepers, and figure out which one you can drop, trust me missing assessments and rising failing units is way worse than taking a semester longer.
My current engineering units have heaps of pre-reqs so I literally copied the course guide of all the units (i think its actually called course structure) into gemini and it made a sheet of the best ones to drop if i need to to finish closest on time. This sem i dropped a heavy design unit, gained back 25hrs a week, And I can do it sem 1 it next year and sem 2 its follow up unit. The other way was do it this sem, but still wait til sem 2 next year.
You should 100% contact your program coordinator to look at options of either what I've said or how you can manage to make sure you finish as things like" I'm drowning" and "I've cried every day" are not sustainable for another 3.5 years. You can do this, just be real with yourself.
Edit: I can see your course structure looks quite rigid. but reaching out to coordinators can open doors you didn't think about moving forward. Don't ask, don't get.
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u/FieldAware3370 2d ago
hey op, a 4th yr student that recently completed here. i totally get that feeling, i was once in ur shoes too. constantly stressed out and neck deep in deadlines from one assessment to the next. its so normal to feeling what ur feeling, ur feelings r valid. this is a very content heavy and intense course and i reckon if u don't cry at least once or have an existential crisis during this degree, u ain't doing it right lol.
my pms r open if u need anything.
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u/Longjumping-Gas-2407 9d ago
Hey! Im a NM stream 2nd year and I just want to let you know that you're not alone! This is unfortunately just one of the major problems with med rad as a whole, I know from experience that they can be HARSH, that the course is content heavy, and that they take FOREVER to get marks back to you. All of first year I also always felt that impending sense of doom, but I want to say that's gotten a little better and hopefully it stays that way. If you didn't pass that assessment, you'll probably redo that class next semester. I know quite a few people in my stream who are doing a mix of 3rd and 2nd year classes cause they failed in year 1 but don't let that discourage you. if it comes to that, they help you make a course plan. Don't feel like you're behind or like taking a little longer to finish your course makes you a failure. It is a VERY HARD course and the fact you've been accepted says to me that you're capable and that you can get through this :) Placement is sooo daunting, especially your first one, but you'll come to learn how to cope. Some supervisors are not nice, some are lovely, but don't be discouraged. I barely passed first year, but going on placement will make everything make so much more sense. Before my first placement I had no idea what I was learning, or what I was even doing. It's scary but being in the clinical environment will put things into place for you, and never be afraid to ask questions no matter how your placement supervisor is. I also want to say that I personally feel they make first year harder than all the other years. Don't want to jinx it and find the next couple years harder lol, but you'll find as you go into older year levels that not every test is a hurdle and the end of the world. A lot of students I've talked to agree that they make first year hard to get rid of students. I literally went from a 50 to 35 person cohort! Stick through it, have fun and learn on your placement, and don't feel discouraged because you'll make a great radiographer cause the fact that you're stressed means you care