Sharing your work with others, even your tutors, can feel daunting. We know so many students struggle to submit work for feedback because they worry that it’s not good enough.
BSc (Hons) Architecture alumni Shahd Osama Jabr shares her story of how she transformed her studies once she learnt the value of showing up, submitting her work and getting feedback.
When I started my architecture course, I did not just find it challenging. I found it heavy.
I was an international student living abroad for the first time, adapting to a new culture, new people, and a completely new system. On top of that, I had lost my mum in 2019, and then COVID hit in 2020, so arriving at university felt like stepping into a new life while still carrying everything from the old one.
I also arrived without the inside knowledge that many people seemed to have. Some classmates had family in architecture or already had a strong background. I did not. I did not know how studio culture worked, how to speak to tutors confidently, or even what kind of help I was allowed to ask for. And because the first year is where you learn the basics, you build on them forever. I felt like I was falling behind from day one.
When fear gets quiet, it gets powerful
In the studio, I would look around and think, “Everyone knows what they are doing except me.” I was scared of being judged, for my work, for not having the right vocabulary, for simply not knowing what to do next. I attended weekly, but I missed some lectures. Sometimes I would even be on campus and still not go in, especially if I was five minutes late. The idea of walking through the door while everyone turned their head felt unbearable.
But avoiding class does not protect you. It isolates you. The less I showed up, the less feedback I got. The less feedback I got, the less I understood what to do next. That cycle contributed to me failing my studio module in my first year. Retaking it pushed me to show up more. And that small change helped me pass, but I still carried the same fear and uncertainty.
The turning point: showing up changed what I believed about myself
Things started to shift properly in Studio 2. In the second semester, I was part of a group project and was lucky to be paired with friends. Working with them taught me something I will never forget. Everyone has strengths and gaps. One person was brilliant at sketching, another at model making, and another at digital tools, and we learned from each other by sharing, questioning, and accepting each other’s critiques.
For the first time, the feedback felt normal rather than frightening. After that, I noticed a pattern. The more I showed up, the more feedback I received. The more feedback I received, the clearer the next steps became. And the clearer the next steps were, the easier it was to keep showing up.
By my final year, I made it a mission to show up daily, even on days without studio, sometimes on weekends. It became normal. Being around people working made me feel less alone, and it made it easier to share unfinished work without shame. Our studio started to feel like a family. Some days, we lifted each other up. Other days, we cried on each other’s shoulders from stress. But the consistent thing was this. The more we showed our work, the more it got critiqued, and the more it improved. That consistency is a major reason I earned a high distinction in my final studio.
The moment feedback turned panic into a plan
One moment made all of this feel real. Around April that year, I had about a month left before the portfolio submission. The project itself was there. I had developed the full project in the software. But I still had not translated it into clear portfolio outcomes. I did not have the finished set of drawings and pages that communicate a project. Plans, sections, key diagrams, visuals, and a clear layout that tells the story from concept to proposal.
I remember crying to my dad on the phone because I was so convinced I was going to fail, especially when people around me were talking about resetting. I ran into my tutor by coincidence, told him where I was, and instead of judging me, he sat down with me. We made a list of everything the portfolio needed, put it in priority order, and divided it across the remaining days. I finished on time, not because I suddenly became perfect, but because feedback turned overwhelm into a plan.
You don’t need a perfect start
I graduated with a First-Class degree, and now I am in my first year of the Master of Architecture at UWE Bristol. I am not sharing this because I had it together. I am sharing it because I did not, and I still made it through, because I learned how powerful it is to show up and ask for feedback.
If you are struggling, try this:
- Ask your tutor one question: What’s the next step?
- Sit in the studio for 30 minutes with no pressure to produce. Just listen, observe, and let it become familiar.
It is never too early to ask for feedback, and never too late to start. Even if you show up with something messy or with nothing fully formed, you will still leave with a starting point. Showing up is how uncertainty becomes direction.
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