 Hey guys, it's Jess and welcome back to my channel. So, being Friday, it's that time of the week again. It's time for this week's question of the week video. And like I always say guys, if you have any study related questions or just any questions that you want me to answer, then feel free to leave them in the comment box below or send them through on my social media at Twitter and Instagram. You can find me at studywithjess if you're not already following me. But onto today's question of the week. Today's question comes from Alice and she asks the following. So Alice writes in saying, Hey Jess, have you ever doubted yourself when it came to your studies? If so, how did you become more confident? Lots of love Alice. Alice, yeah, I did actually. If I think back to my first year of university, I was really used to getting A pluses when I finished high school and being at the top of the class or somewhere near the top of the class. And then when I got into uni, I went to be more like a B, B plus, sometimes even C student. And that first year, it was really challenging for me because yeah, I did doubt in my abilities. As a student, I wondered, maybe I'm not that smart, maybe I'm not an academic. And it really did take a toll on my own self-confidence. But I think that, look, I'm proud to say that eventually it did all work out. But I think that the reason that I had that problem was because transitioning from high school into university, all of the assignments that we were given, they were very new to me. The marking criteria was really different to what I was used to as well. I didn't ever know how to write a lab report for psychology and having to do that as one of the core assignments or key assignments for the year, that was also pretty tough. And then there was also the fact that I was taking a whole new subject called statistics. Love that. So actually no, statistics and I are now friends since fourth year when it finally clicked. Glad to say. But yeah, it was really hard because there were all these new skills that I had to learn. And I feel like we all have this tendency at some point, whether it's in our studies or life in general, that we doubt in our abilities if when we try something for the first time, we're very impatient and we assume that either we're good at it or we're not. And if you start trying and you're not very good, that you're probably not gonna get better or you won't be that much better. And you're just gonna, I don't know, there's like this ceiling effect. But it's really not the case. I really advised all of you guys out there if you do feel like you're lacking in self-confidence, especially with your studies or any skill in life, that you persevere and you have that determination and you find another way. So be proactive and know that you can improve in your skills. Now something that I've said, I think in one of my talks that I gave to some students a while backwards, I asked a lot of them, do they see their skills as fixed or dynamic? So if you see your skills as fixed, it means how we're born, that's just how we're gonna be. If you try and play basketball and you're no good, you're just not gonna be good at basketball or if you enroll in a statistics unit and you're not very good, then you're never gonna be good at statistics. Or do you see it as dynamic? Do you see it as you can improve in your skills and it just takes time, practice and perseverance? So the blood, sweat and tears guys, that's what I'm talking about because that's really the case. If you don't seem to be doing well at something at the moment, it doesn't mean you're not good at it. It doesn't mean that you can't get better at it. It just means you have to keep trying and you might need to try some other ways to improve as well. So one quote that I love to use, and this is actually a courtesy of my dad about a year ago. He said to me, just when things don't go right, go left. So the whole idea is if things aren't working for you, try another approach. Don't give up because it's not that you're not good enough. It's just that you might need a little bit more time. You might need to have some more practice. So remember when I was at uni, I would meet with my tutors and lecturers. I would really rely heavily on the feedback. I would look at the feedback, take that on board and then meet with my tutor again to discuss the feedback. I really nag them a lot. I was a very demanding student, I think. But yeah, I just really wanted to improve in my grades and that's how I did it. So making sure that you don't have a fixed mindset but that you see your skills as dynamic and being very proactive. So think about what you can do and don't sit and wallow and have an extended pity party for yourself if you're not good at something. You can get better, so go and get better at it and enjoy that you have this opportunity to learn and acquire new skills and see it in a positive light and don't take it personally. Don't say that you're not good at something and have this defeatist attitude. So I hope that that answers your question today, Alice. And if you guys find this video helpful, then please thumbs up, just let me know. And like I said, make sure to send through your study questions. You can leave them down below or also send them through on social media. Just follow me at studywithjess on Twitter and Instagram. Also, if you guys want to check out some previous videos, click the cards up over there. I know I always point to the screen. I will place the cards up there. And also if you want to check out my study skills book The High School Survival Guide, that will be linked down below as well. Anyway, until Monday when I see you for brain food, have a very happy and productive weekend. Bye.