Tag Archives: papers

Midterm Season

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If I can’t tell it’s midterm season from the plethora of approaching assignments lined up in my planner, I have another surefire way of knowing. I spontaneously begin losing things left and right.

First it was the laundry I had left out to dry in the laundry room, next it was my headphones.

It feels a little bit like the more I try to stuff into my brain and my schedule, the less room there is for me to remember the little things in my life. According to this Huffington Post article, stress isn’t just making me forget where I’ve put everything that isn’t attached to my head, it’s also shrinking my brain. I’m more than a little bummed to hear that my noggin has been making me feel stressed for trying to get work done and rewarding me with less brain power in the process.

200wI had just worked out the perfect schedule to get all of my work done on time, get enough sleep, even go to the gym a couple times a week. But suddenly, the frequent all-caps reminders in my agenda started to appear more urgent.

To tell myself that I was getting work done, I would methodically go through every assignment – read 100 pages of this for Core III, 50 pages of that for Sociology, the 3 articles for French – that is until I got to the item in all caps at the bottom, “WORK ON PAPER DUE MONDAY.” A sudden wave of sleepiness and anxiety would wash over me and I assured myself, “I’ll do it tomorrow” as I again wrote “WORK ON PAPER – SERIOUSLY” in the next day of my planner. Instead, I got extra reading done for my other classes, completed extra credit, finished less stressful homework that wasn’t due for the following week.

It was already the weekend and my outline was barely finished. I ditched plans and even skipped a networking event that I had been truly looking forward to attending. Worse, I completely forgot to let anyone know that I wouldn’t be able to make it – being completely disrespectful and disappointing to those who I had promised I would attend.

I curled up in every possible study spot I could think of, from the Toll browsing room to the Writing Center and Jacqua Quad, and yet my analysis remained half-cooked and disjointed. No matter how many Motley matcha-chachas I treated myself to, none solicited the sustenance to bring the big “Aha!” moment to my paper. I poured over quotes and called on friends, but nothing seemed to help. As the hours to the deadline loomed nearer and my clarity did not, I tried my best to stitch together a paper that I was not proud of.

Somewhere along the progression of my stressed out self, I forgot that this paper was not the only measurement of my value or validity as a person. Despite the many friends over the past week that reminded me, “You aren’t defined by this paper!” the knowledge that these seven pages were worth a quarter of my grade eclipsed their remarks.

At the end of the day, I turned in a paper I was not entirely proud of. And while I know I am not defined by this paper, I am still disappointed in myself for letting my lack of time-management get the best of me, for struggling so much with an assignment, for shirking friends, and for ignoring commitments I had made to others.

As I reach the end of this midterm season, I can only hold myself accountable to remember that telling myself I am ‘ahead’ in everything else does not have any bearing on the progress of my paper. Just because I am stressed over one assignment does not give me any excuse to ignore the rest of the world. But similarly, I also need to remember that a paper is just a paper. It should not feel like it will desecrate my entire being if I cannot execute it perfectly.
Hopefully, releasing the burden of this paper let my brain grow back to its normal size and I will remember this moment before my next paper is due.

Working with Others

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As the semester drags on, many students like myself are faced with a grim reality. We’ve ignored it, pushed it to the back burner since the beginning of the semester, and hoped that it would simply go away. Group projects, papers, and presentations plague many a classmate and many with whom I’ve spoken believe that they are a creative and cruel ploy by professors to draw us out of our collective shells. Now, for the sake of transparency, as a science student, my classes often come with a additional laboratory component where I am “forced” to work with others. Recently, I’ve been blessed with a tremendous lab group (shout out to my peeps!), though I haven’t been spared of my fair share of challenging pairings in the past. As such, I’ve learned a few things about working effectively and stress-free with your peers.

Try your hardest to synthesize everyone’s POV, including your own. No one can complete everything at once, so learning to be flexible in group scheduling and time management is key. On the other hand, jeopardizing your schedule, or your sanity, doesn’t help anyone either and, if you respect your group members, you should be able to believe that they respect you and your needs. Finding the perfect balance between compromise and firmness may be your greatest asset in group communication. Though it may be hard when one of your group members loses a file or misses a meeting, try to stay calm and understand that every one of your classmates is only human. If needed, set earlier time windows for you and your group members to account for unexpected issue in a calm, collected way. If you find it becoming increasingly difficult to get anything done face-to-face…

Effectively employ social media and alternate forms of communication. When those early birds and night owls get paired together, frustration is bound to rear its ugly head. Use tools like Facebook Chat, texting, and Google Docs to complete your assignments on your own terms and avoid compromises.

Let your voice shine through in the right ways. Often, one of the most difficult parts of group experiences is the synthesizing of individual ideas and styles. It is the individual responsibility of every group member to make sure they are an active part of the project or paper. Using individualized language or verbiage is a subtle way to insert your voice into a cohesive paper, though it is sometimes important to step back and let others shine as well. If possible, compile the ideas of your group members into a cohesive argument that covers all bases. If, like lab groups, you work together on a weekly or monthly basis, this same concept can apply to the contributions you bring to the group. Some weeks you may be able to command the project, while some weeks you may have nothing important to say. While it is important to be always be actively engaged, don’t be afraid to contribute varying amounts. Hopefully, you can take over when someone else is feeling down, and they can support you when you need it. Speaking of,…

Don’t be hesitant to spread the work around. While I know this is not always instinct for some, including myself, you can rely on your group. Though you may want to get work done quickly or ignore assignments completely, know that your group members may be feeling the same. Discuss with them before hand how you believe you will be able to contribute, so you can all understand from the start how your group style may eventually develop. Your group members may be happy to pick up the slack occasionally, and maybe you can pick up some of theirs every now and again.

The number one rule in group assignments is communicate and address problems should they arise. Do not let group problems fester and built up. From my experience, many in-class groups tend to stay together multiple times over the course of a semester, so if you have a problem that is not fixed, it may likely plague you for many projects to come.