Even though this happens frequently, it always irks me. The paper has a deadline. On the first day of class, your professor told you when the term paper is due. It’s written on the syllabus ands on Blackboard. Why is it that students still use the excuse that they didn’t know it was due?

We’be been discussing this assignment since day one. In fact, you knew about it before the semester, so why do you feel like you’re I entitled to an extension?

I understand that not all students do their work in advance. I know that cramming the night before an exam or trying to write a term paper the night before it’s due is fairly common among college students, but if that’s how you workdo why does it entitle you to an extension?

And for all those professors who grant extensions, don’t you know that you’re doing your students a great disservice? Are they going to be guaranteed extensions in the job? And what about those students who diligently adhere to all your deadlines. How do you think they feel when their deadline is adjusted to accommodate procrastinators?

Please, check your schedules. Make sure you know when things are due and take responsibility for your assignments!

At the beginning of the semester, I had posted a detailed description of my three part plan for assuring my success this semester. At that time, I was asked to report how the semester had gone based on my plan to determine its effectiveness.

So here I will be summarizing the successes of this semester as well as the difficulties that I have encountered. I think it is important to note that I call them difficulties because I feel that as long as one learns from his or her mistakes, they are not failures, only difficulties. I will then try to analyze what aspects of the plan were helpful and which parts do may have contributed to my difficulties.

This semester I took three classes. A five credit nursing class, a four credit nursing class, and a speech class. At the beginning of the semester, I organized my schedule, accounting for one day of reading for all my classes as well as scheduling set amount of times for additional preparation, assignments, and studying. I also began the semester with a plan of sleeping at least 7 hours a night, allowing myself some time for leisure activity and emergencies which might arise.

There were a few things that I hadn’t counted in. In the past semesters, one day a week was enough to cover all of the material to be read for the week’s classes. Unfortunately, this semester the list of readings was a lot longer. Another thing that I had not worked into my schedule was the fact that each semester the classes require more intense studying, more assignments, and more reviewing.

The last aspect that I didn’t factor in was SPRING FEVER/SENIORITIS. I didn’t think about the fact that I might suffer burnout of some sort. I thought I wouldn’t need more than a few hours a week of leisure. And I didn’t realize the importance of taking care of myself.

So, you want to know how the semester went?

Obviously it’s too early for me to know my grades, but I’m pretty confident that I am going to pass all my classes this semester with a decent grade. This semester wa a hard one for me. I’ve learned what it means to fail a test, but I’ve survived that experience. I’ve learned what it feels like when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, but I’m learning to say “NO”. And I’ve learned that sometimes it’s ok to push off cleaning your apartment until after finals as long as you’ll get to it then.

So that was my semester! How was yours?

image from flickr.com no copyright infringement

So I’m here to give you my newest hint for achieving success. I know that I’m still a junior in City Tech, but I think of myself as very successful. I have discovered so much about myself throughout my schooling, I’ve learned about life, and I’ve come across some of the secrets to success. The best part? This secret is great for achieving higher scores in your classes and getting the most out of your class.

The secret that I want to share with you is that to be successful, remember the three Ps: Passion, Perseverance, and Practice. These three words are the ingredients to being successful in any endeavor. This mantra can be put to use in many situations. Let’s discuss some school examples.

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of taking a class that we are really excited about, and of course there are those classes we wish we did not have to take. Those are the classes that might get pushed off until the end of our degree if that’s allowed. Often these are classes that we feel are not necessary for our majors. If we look at both type of classes, we will see that this slogan can be used for both.

First we’ll discuss that class to which you were really looking forward. You probably already have the first part, PASSION. Once you have that, you probably have discovered that you are willing to do anything to do well. That’s good because if you’re willing to do anything, PERSEVERANCE should be simple for you. Of course you know that working really hard only helps to a certain extent. But then, you can PRACTICE. We’ve all heard the phrase, “Practice makes Perfect”, and this is the reason why.

The same basic principle goes for that class that you can’t stand thinking about. There’s is just one fundamental difference. In these classes, you need to find a reason to have PASSION. Find a small part of the subject that is just amazing to you. Find a reason to get involved in the class, and you’ll find that the same principle will apply.

Have the PASSION, PERSEVERE, and PRACTICE, and you’ll be Proud!