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As I reflect on the last three years of University, I see that all of my essays and assignments were in fact written under extreme pressure. Do I think this has had an effect on my success? In my second year, my partner lost his job, and even now has been unable to find a decent and regular income. This put extra pressure on me. I had to ensure that I was working enough to pay the bills, rather than cutting back on work and concentrating on my studies. It was not unusual to be up until five in the morning, getting that bibliography completed with all its correct and tedious referencing details. But somehow, I realize that that is the way I managed to get out the words in the most succinct style. I am a procrastinator by nature, I know. If I had had plenty

of time to get essays written, I probably would have 'put it off 'till tomorrow'.Writing under pressure can be stressful, but that feeling of "well, this paper is not going to write itself, so I HAVE to do it now" seems to work for me. As I read back through some of the papers I wrote under pressure, I am almost amazed at the writing before me. Did I write that?I ask myself sometimes. It is almost as if the brain goes into a different consciousness level. Everything is there, in order and parallel to the argument. Of course, the groundwork has been done in terms of research for quotes and so on, but that has been done in one hour spurts leading up to the deadline. I think that these days a lot of students find that they have to work as well as study, so the mind and brain is geared for high pressure output. It works for me, but maybe not for everyone.I am now doing a Post Graduate course, and my first assignment was completed one hour before the deadline. Oh dear, despite telling myself to change my ways, I find that again, I am leaving the actual writing of the essay until the last minute. My partner is still unemployed, so I am still working as much as I can at the restaurant. All dayers and weekends until at least ten o'clock at night. Does not leave much room for study, so again I am doing the research in short spurts of reading chapters or articles and quickly selecting quotes that I think will be useful. I find myself knowing how I will answer the question. My argument is ready. I sleep on this. Then the crunch time comes, and I write and write and write, hoping it all makes sense because if not, its too late anyway. Coffee and cigarettes are my friend. My human friends wonder why I have become an anti-social teetotaler. If only they knew what miracles I am experiencing on my keyboard as my brain goes into top gear and the stressed out neurons somehow throw their energy into some form of logic.I really don't know how this happens, but I reckon that if I had all the time in the world, and didn't have to work in a job to pay the bills, my essays would be crap. Funny it may seem, but I seriously believe that writing under pressure produces my best work.

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