Don't Fall Off!!

It's the time of year again when we're all scratching our heads and wondering what happened to summer.  We feel like summer just started, but sure enough, in a few days, summer will end, and the fall season will begin.  While this may be depressing to some, the fall season certainly brings its perks.  The changing colors of the leaves brings beauty to the campus, and the cooler temperatures may mean that students can actually walk to class without breaking into an outright sweat.  Yes, fall can be a wonderful time of the year.

Beware, however, of falling off academically.  The semester is flying by; this week marks the fifth week of class.  Many students may be reaching the point where they feel overwhelmed by their school work and just want to be lazy.  After all, watching football all day sure does sound more appealing than writing that paper that's due later in the week...

Now is a terrific time to focus on managing just that:  your time.  As the amount of school work continues to pile up, students may find it extremely beneficial to better organize their schedules.  We all have our own unique ways of doing things, but why not make your life a little less hectic?  That paper due next week?  Start it now.  By simply scheduling a little time each day to work on assignments, especially large ones, students can make their school work drastically more manageable.  Procrastination often sounds appealing until the deadline approaches.

The same holds true with scheduling appointments at the Writing Center.  While we are always happy to work with students on their completed papers, feel free to stop in and see us early in your writing process.  Again, a paper may not be due for another week, but by working with a tutor to generate ideas in the prewriting process, students may be able to generate and organize intelligent ideas, leading to smooth, painless writing later on.  What's more, you may find yourself less stressed about that paper if you get started on it before the night before it's due.

Mick Snyder