A nearing-the-end-of-the-semester reminder to all of the students out there: plagiarism is not good. Oh sure, you might be tempted. When you’re staring down a couple of all-nighters in a row the prospect of replacing your friends name with yours and changing a couple of sentences seems appealing. As we’re not at the very end of the semester just yet I think you might be able to avoid those all-nighters of the future if you pull some part-timers right now. Sure, there are probably all sorts of social things you could be doing. Social things are good — but is it worth the all-nighters in the future? Let’s ask a more fundamental question.
What do you need to do by the end of the semester? (That is the fundamental question — go back and read it again). Is it daunting? Is there just too much to keep track of? Can you sense the impending all-nighters coming? A small piece of advice: calm down. Make a list friends. Make a list of all the things you need to do. Write it on your wall, type it out and print it on the mirror, set it up to be auto-texted to you each hour, it doesn’t matter but make it prominent in your life. Write it down and force yourself to look at. Are you looking at it?
Okay — now pick one thing. It could be that presentation you’re dreading or just that e-mail you need to send. Whatever it is you choose commit to start working on it tomorrow. Then work on something else. Then something else. Watch that list disappear. Don’t plagiarize. It isn’t worth it. You DO have the time to get things done and you WILL get them done. Good luck.