Only Two Weeks!

I only have two weeks left of college and I am freaking out. I have a lot of work to do but I am plugging away at it. There is a certain class where every time we meet he adds another part to our final project. This project is worth 150 points. We had to write a communication journal 3 times a day for 26 days. I have over 15 pages of journals, today he added that we should write journals for an extra 5 days just to make it a month. Which means that I have to write journals longer than I thought I had to. On top of that every Monday, after writing the 3 entries we have to summarize all the communication exchanges we had that week coming to a total of 4 summaries. Then we have to take all that we have learned and put it in a final paper, which we cannot start until all of our journal entries are in. Journals end on the 2nd of this month. I have to turn the final paper in on exam day on the 5th. And then take my exam for this class.

At least my other class gave us all our assignments in advance. I have completed all but one which I should have done by today. I even completed the final exam already.

Then there is my 3 independent studies. I have completed one of them, still working on finishing touches in the other, and the last one I still have a lot of work to do. I have 5 news articles to finish, I have a 5 page paper to write on a ethical issue, and several assignment to put finishing touches on so I can add them to my professional portfolio.

Oh yeah, one last thing. I have to find an internship for this summer. Talk about stressful. One week of class left and one week of exams. If I live though this stress I will need a few weeks to recover. Here goes, back to work.

How to Write an A Paper in 3 Hours or Less

If any of you are like me, you find yourself procrastinating until the last minute to write your paper for class. Doesn’t matter that we got the assignment 3 weeks ago or have had class time to work on it, its still not done. It is now 10pm and the paper is due tomorrow in class.

The first thing you should do is get out the assignment sheet and write down what is required to be in the paper with a few lines in between each criteria. Then choose what your paper will be about (I usually go with the first idea I come up with because it saves time). Now under each criteria write a few words related to your topic.

On that same sheet of paper write “Intro, 1st paragraph, 2nd paragraph, 3rd paragraph, and conclusion. If it is a longer paper, just turn the “paragraph” sections into “idea” sections so that you can include several paragraphs under each idea. Now do what I call “the BS Fluff”. Write several subheadings under each section of ideas.

Now under the Introduction, just take what is written on the assignment sheet and restate the “point of assignment” that the teacher has written in your own words. Then write your three ideas under that, first in a list then moving on to briefly explain each section. This will be your lead into the second paragraph.

The next part is easy. Take your brainstorming, BS Fluffing, outline and write each idea and subheading in complete sentences. The majority of your paper is done. If you have to have citations in the paper, go to Wikipedia. Although you cannot cite Wikipedia in your paper, they did the connecting work for you. Pick a random page and find a random statistic or quote that you can BS’ly tie into your paper and  your citation is done.

Last for your conclusion, just take your intro and turn it upside down. List the ideas you talked about, then restate the point of the paper. You have now written a grade A paper in 3 hours or less. This is how I outlined all my papers through school and so far it has worked swimmingly.

Subtle Colors

There are only a few weeks left until I graduate college. This is both exciting and scary. I was blessed enough to have several possibilities available to me for my next chapter. My first task is to chose where to do my internship this summer. I have several options to chose from. I can do anything that involves communication, writing, or advertising, but I would love a job that combines all three.

Lately I have been working on a newsletter for the Michigan Calvary Brigade (MCB), and have discovered that I enjoy page layout and design very much. I like the challenge of making every page look a little different but also sticking to a layout that will be a signature layout. I want people to know that the page they are looking at belongs to the MCB newsletter.

I have noticed throughout my 6 years in fast food that the advertising has changed but also kept a signature look. I love when new posters come out because I like to break them down and analyze them. For example, I have noticed the new direction certain fast food restaurants are headed with their advertising. They are using unique colors and simple shapes to give our generation our signature look. We all know when we see something from the 60’s and 70’s era. Well, I have started to notice the look for our era and I am seeing it in the adverting and designs of the major companies.

They all seem to be heading in the same direction. Light blues, greens, yellows, and reds. There are no neon colors, they are all a washed out subtle color. As if the color has sat in the sun for a few years and then put into an advertisement. The most exciting thing about this is that I recognize the changes and the new direction, which tells me that I am ready to step into the world of advertising myself. I know there is a lot more that I need to learn but I feel confident that once I learn the tricks of the trade there will be nothing stopping me.

My Hope for That Guy

I saw that guy again, the one who cheated off my test in class. You can read about my struggles with him in Mission to Disgust, Unintentional Revenge, This Guy Again, and the Last of that Guy. He was in line to get his graduation cap and gown. I had already picked up mine and was headed out of the gym. He looked at me and we locked eyes. I held his gaze until he looked at the ground. We will both graduate in May, mine from my own hard work, and his probably off the work of others.

I hope that by not getting him in trouble for his wrong doing, like getting him kicked off his sports team or getting kicked out of school, has taught him something. I know he knows I let him off the hook. If I had pressed the issue he would have gotten kicked off his sports team at the very least and possible gotten put on probation. Which would mean that he would have lost his athletic scholarship and may have not been able to finish school. I did not want to be responsible for changing his life in that big of a way, although some would argue he did it to himself. I understand the struggles of trying to get through school, and although I do not know his story, I hope that his reasons for cheating were good ones and not just laziness.

Maybe he will forever remember me as the girl who gave him a second chance to do it right. Hopefully next time he is placed in that situation he will choose to do his own work because of the bullet he dodged. I want to think that this has made him a better person.

But of course I could be completely wrong and he is thinking “yes! I got away with it once, I can do it again.” Or this is what he has done all through school and does not know how to study or prepare for class. If that is the case I feel sorry for him because he will never make it in the real world.

I ended up watching him for some time while he was in line. I know he knows my eyes were on him because every once in a while he would look in my direction as if scanning the room,  would see me watching him, and then look away. I wasn’t intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable but I’m sure it was. Hopefully I made him as uncomfortable as he made me the day he cheated off me and hopefully this experience has taught us both a lesson.