Spring Break
The Daily OrangeProcrastination, caffeine collide during finals week
By Mary Stotler
Posted: 12/9/05, 1:25 AM EST Section: Opinion
Maybe it's the 13 venti Starbucks Frappacinos ingested in a three-hour time span. Or perhaps it's the sheer panic at the prospect of repeating a semester's worth of classes that made you wish you'd taken up a career in fast food the first time around. Whatever the motivating factor may be, finals week possesses a mystical quality that can kick-start the work ethic of even the most lackadaisical of college students.
Finals week brings out the extraordinary in students. Able to survive on caffeine and Kimmel food alone, we somehow finish 15 weeks of work in the three hours the morning before it is due.
"I was here at the library until 5 in the morning the past two nights," said Jill Sachs, a sophomore public relations and communication and rhetorical studies major. "That's why I like to come here. People are in the same boat as you and it makes you feel better about procrastinating."
Glazed over eyes. Unshowered, uncombed hair. Incoherence from lack of sleep. During finals week, your friends, roommates and classmates will most likely be experiencing one if not all of these symptoms. Fear not, they will return to normal once that last project is handed in and the sleep deprivation passes.
So what causes this finals week hell in the first place? Gluttons for punishment, college kids have the art of procrastination down to a science.
The normal college student spews out the litany of common excuses for their last minute work. I work best under pressure. I'm a night person. I know it; I don't really need to study.
Facebook, away message stalking and napping are the preferred modes of procrastination for many students. Naps may be procrastination to some, but for others they provide the energy needed to burn the midnight oil.
"If you take a half-hour nap, it's like putting your phone on the charger for five minutes - you're good to go for another three hours," said Jack Worth, an undeclared sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences.
Other students turn to food and drink to give them the energy to power their all-nighters.
"Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts know me by name and drink now," said Sachs.
Despite your best intentions in your academic pursuits, a late-night study session or frantic paper-writing episode will inevitably pop up sometime during your college career. So let this thought steel you on your journey through finals week - at least you're not alone. If you need someone to commiserate with about your finals week woes, I'll be at Starbucks. I'll be the girl with the dirty hair getting the venti Frap.
Finals week brings out the extraordinary in students. Able to survive on caffeine and Kimmel food alone, we somehow finish 15 weeks of work in the three hours the morning before it is due.
"I was here at the library until 5 in the morning the past two nights," said Jill Sachs, a sophomore public relations and communication and rhetorical studies major. "That's why I like to come here. People are in the same boat as you and it makes you feel better about procrastinating."
Glazed over eyes. Unshowered, uncombed hair. Incoherence from lack of sleep. During finals week, your friends, roommates and classmates will most likely be experiencing one if not all of these symptoms. Fear not, they will return to normal once that last project is handed in and the sleep deprivation passes.
So what causes this finals week hell in the first place? Gluttons for punishment, college kids have the art of procrastination down to a science.
The normal college student spews out the litany of common excuses for their last minute work. I work best under pressure. I'm a night person. I know it; I don't really need to study.
Facebook, away message stalking and napping are the preferred modes of procrastination for many students. Naps may be procrastination to some, but for others they provide the energy needed to burn the midnight oil.
"If you take a half-hour nap, it's like putting your phone on the charger for five minutes - you're good to go for another three hours," said Jack Worth, an undeclared sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences.
Other students turn to food and drink to give them the energy to power their all-nighters.
"Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts know me by name and drink now," said Sachs.
Despite your best intentions in your academic pursuits, a late-night study session or frantic paper-writing episode will inevitably pop up sometime during your college career. So let this thought steel you on your journey through finals week - at least you're not alone. If you need someone to commiserate with about your finals week woes, I'll be at Starbucks. I'll be the girl with the dirty hair getting the venti Frap.
Mary Frances Stotler is a junior television, radio and film and political science major. You can e-mail her at mfstotle@syr.edu.
