And, just like that, it’s done. Your first year as a BA student is over. You are no longer a newbie, you are a Second Year.

Look back to all of those essays and exams and lectures that you’ve worked on and stressed over and succeeded in. Look back to where you were at the start of the year – what you knew, what you didn’t know, what you feared. Look at where you’re at now, and how you’re really starting to get the hang of things.

Now’s the time to make sure that all the essentials for next year are sorted – courses, Studylink, somewhere to live. But it’s not the time to dwell on the future. Nope, as soon as your final exam is over and the basics for next year are in check, it’s time to kick back. Sit in the sun, have a drink, and think about something very novel for a while: nothing.

We experience a lot of emotions over the course of our BAs. Inspiration. Stress. Motivation. Fear. Pride. Confusion. Energy. Exhaustion. I believe, though, that the defining emotion of a BA is the one that you feel when you push your essay through the hand-in slot and hear it drop into the box below. The one that you feel when you hit ‘submit’. The one that you feel when you walk out of your last exam. The one that you’re probably feeling right now. Enjoy it.

If you’ve been following my advice – do practice exams at home, over and over, until your real exams are done – you’ll be totally shattered by now. Your writing hand will be blistered, your legs stiff from lack of exercise, your brain aching. You’ll be missing your friends and family. You’ll be fantasising about the day that you can sit and do nothing.

Keep going. This will end. You will ace your exams. You will be so glad that you put in the effort. You will have no regrets, only pride. Trust me, it’s a feeling totally worth suffering for.