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Not too early to start thinking about finals
- By Anthony McConnell
- Trail Editor
- It’s coming. It will be here soon. That time of year all students and even some professors dread. The first cue came with advising day. The next will come with Thanksgiving break. Then without warning – well there have been many, but no one paid any attention to them – finals will be here.
Projects and papers and comprehensive final exams oh my. Many have known about these from the beginning of the semester, the rest for at least a month and they are all due in just over a month’s time. This it not the time to panic – that will come soon enough. This is the time to get to work and get ahead of the game.
The last thing any student wants to do over a break is to do homework, but that is exactly what must be done. Now you shouldn’t spend the whole break with your nose in your textbooks, but some would be a good idea.
Take a few hours on Saturday and study for that final exam, do a little research for that paper or even write a rough draft. As the semester ends, things will start to pile up, but if you get a head start that to-do list will shrink.
There is a saying among college students that says, “Why do today what you put off till tomorrow?” This is also the motto of the procrastinator. It is our suggestion that you do today and sleep tomorrow.
Think of how jealous your friends will be when you have all your final projects done and they are scrambling to finish 20 minutes before the projects are due.
Think about how surprised your professors will be when you come into class all relaxed and refreshed because you were able to get a good night’s sleep instead of staying up all night in a mad dash to finish all of your assignments. It’s not brown-nosing – it’s just good sense.
But what do you do if you have already procrastinated and that 15-page paper is due in six hours? This is the time to panic.
First things first, go to the hospital and see if you can bribe a doctor for a note excusing you from class – the more exotic the disease the better.
When that fails you could break a leg or an arm, but your teacher will most likely be more open if you just fess up.
Tell him or her the truth and pray for leniency. If you are lucky, you will only lose a grade or two off of the assignment.
Just remember you have known finals have been coming since August, there are no excuses for not being prepared.
- Trail Editor