Attention Class

As the end of the year is creeping its way into the immediate future, I have been thinking about what it is like for me as a college student versus how it was for me as a high school student. Thinking about this made me realize one giant reason why I was not prepared for college, and that realization comes in two words: finals week.

I shudder just typing out the words. The acronym for “finals” (which I cannot say in this publication, but check out Facebook; I’m sure you can find it if you do not know what it is) is incredibly accurate. I don’t know if it is that I didn’t learn the material, or if it is more like “Oh no, I didn’t do anything on time and now my life is crazy busy. I’m trying to pack and I think I need to write a 25 page book report before I get out of here,” but nonetheless I am stressed, busy, and maybe, just maybe, about ready to crack.

As I sat there and thought about everything I have to do (aka everything I didn’t do earlier), I started thinking about why this feeling was so foreign to me three years ago when I first experienced this so called “finals week.” I realized when I was in high school, the teachers recognized that we didn’t care anymore, and therefore since we didn’t, they really didn’t either. Well, they may have cared, but they did cater to our laziness and need for sunshine; most likely, because they needed the break, too. Once I realized this, I came to the question is this good or bad?

My decision has come down to this. It is good to have a winding down period for students and homework and projects might be lessened during this time. On the other hand, it is not such a great idea to stop giving homework, or giving a minimal amount of homework because it does not exactly prepare your students for the college world.

Now, I’m not saying high school teachers should decide that every project that they realized they didn’t have time to get to should be done within the next 24 hours like some (not all) professors think. But, I am saying they may not want to let their students off the hook completely.
From the college perspective, I think the professors should recognize that we are much busier during this time of year. Spring has proven to be more packed with events and responsibilities than in the fall (a phenomenon I am not quite sure I can explain). I know we choose are classes, but it is not like we get a syllabus two weeks before signing up for class. I don’t think that should happen because let’s face it, no one would really look at them.

Basically, what I am saying is we are going into certain classes blind, and even if we have had a certain professor before, it doesn’t mean they are going to be the same – a different class, a different style. I know professors have so much to teach us, and only 15 short weeks to tell us all they know about a given subject, but to cram in the big projects right at the end is just asking for someone to have a mental breakdown in their class.

The conclusion I have come to is this: find a happy medium, spread out the big projects, and as for the students, maybe not procrastinate all semester long.