When Life Gives You Term Papers...

It's that time of the semester again, the time when we do not see our roomies, when people seemed stressed to the extreme. It is time for the term paper/midterm rush. There is no way to avoid this, because no matter how good your time management skills, you will still feel it.

I lucked out this semester and thus far only seem to have two essays due next week, one the week after, and one presentation due this week. On top of that though there are a few social obligations as well, such as Cake Boss II. Which I will win this time, none of this second place stuff.

So how do university students do it all!?!?! It is very different from high school, and that is the truth. In university we balance the courses, the essays, the assignments, midterms and exams. On top of it all many of us try and keep up the active social life, being involved in clubs and going out with friends at night. I think I may have figured out the formula as to how we can do this.

Early morning homework+late night studying+coffee+energy drinks= success

Not the most scientific analysis, but the most truthful.

So now for another blog of helpful tips, on how to get it all done. And to have leftover time for a power nap.

• Get a full nights sleep the best you can. Being able to get up the next morning and get your day started without being exhausted is very important. Nobody wants to get called out on sleeping in lecture, and filling your body full of energy drinks first thing in the morning just to get through it is more like the recipe for heart disease than the recipe for success.
• When your Prof tells you about the essay that will be due in a month, do not tell yourself that you will think about it later. I am not saying that 4 weeks from the due date you should be scrambling through the library trying to get it done. But WRITE IT DOWN. Make yourself a to do list and put it on your wall. It will be there to remind you, and you will be less likely to have a wild weekend that conveniently made you forget about that paper. Which just happened to be worth 30% of your mark.
• Study groups or study buddies. We all get to the lectures we can. Howevr sometimes you might not be able to go. It is good to have a friend who will provide reliable notes and who you can get together with before your midterm or exam. Bouncing ideas off of each other and working out problems together will help you study and you will have less of an excuse to go on Facebook instead. Yeah you know you do that. Sometimes Facebook creeping is much more interesting than Biology.
• This is an especially important tip, because I know a lot of people that faced this issue coming into first year courses. In high school we were asked to cite sources, but they could be any sources. Except our beloved Wikipedia of course. In university we are expected to do research in the library. We should look up peer-reviewed articles, and use the school library to our full advantage. Other than having a more credible paper, you will also learn how to research properly and use the library.

So there are a few helpful hints from a first year to first years coming in. Next blog you can look forward to something more witty I am sure. But I wish somebody had told me these things coming in, because it isn't always common sense and it can be overwhelming.