[Throwing back to a post I wrote on Stressing Out College back in 2013. Not much has changed since then.]
[October 19th, 2015] – “Defend a thesis or concept from one of the philosophers… The essay should focus on a single primary source from the philosopher and should use a minimum of three secondary sources to construct and defend your thesis. All essays should be 6-8 pages in MLA format… Due date: Sunday December 6th, 11:55 PM.”
STAGE 1: PROCRASTINATION
[October 19th, 2015] – Easy-peezy. Let’s catch up on “American Horror Story.”
[November 2nd, 2015] – Ah, I guess I’ll choose Simone de Beauvoir for the paper. Holy mother of cod, look at these pandas…
[December 2nd, 2015] – I’d better get started on that essay… Ah! This week’s “American Horror Story!” What the hell is in room 33…
STAGE 2: DENIAL
[December 4th, 2015 (11:32 PM)] – It’s going to be painless because I already know what I’m going to write about. Simone de Beauvoir, sexism bad, WTF is “woman,” yadda yadda yadda.
[December 5th, 2015] – Cuttin’ it close, but it’s all good. It’s not due until tomorrow – tomorrow at midnight, to be more exact, so I’ll have all day to do it. I got this.
[December 6th, 2015 (1:15 PM)] – Slept in, feeling refreshed. I have 11 whole hours to do this paper. Time to browse Facebook.
STAGE 3: MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PANIC PEPPERED WITH MOMENTS OF FALSE HOPE AND REGRET
[December 6th, 2015 (5:09 PM] – OH MY SHIT WHY DID I WAIT TO DO THIS I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING WHAT IS THIS GEEZUS FUDGING CRISCO WHYYYYYY…
[December 6th, 2015 (5:21 PM)] – I love this song so, so much. I can do this!
[December 6th, 2015 (7:00 PM)] – NO NO NO STOP LOOKING AT FACEBOOK, CLOSE OUT OF YOUTUBE, I NEED TO GET THIS ASS DICK SHIT FUCK PAPER DONE MOTHER HELLING BUCK STUCK DUCK PUCK FUUUUUUU
[December 6th, 2015 (8:31 PM)] – Fuck yeah, fuck yeah, that’s one motherfucking solid paragraph right there. Yes! I can reward myself with a Buzzfeed listicle. Ah gawd, I love this song, too.
[December 6th, 2015 (9:40 PM)] – SHIT SHIT SHIT I’VE ONLY COMPLETED 3 PAGES AND THOSE CITATIONS SUCK HOW DO I CITE A CONFERENCE PRESENTATION WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELLLLLLLLLFFFFF
STAGE 4: ACCEPTANCE
[December 6th, 2015 (10:46 PM)] – Let’s try to bullshit for one more page.
[December 6th, 2015 (11:58 PM)] – You know what? 5 pages is good enough. [Re-counts pages.] Well, 4 pages plus works cited page is good enough. Spell check? Got my name, title, words words words words, sources. And I bet he’ll let it slide if I submit the paper a few minutes late.
[December 6th, 2015 (1:12 AM)] – Yep. Done. Clicking “submit.” All done. Wipe my hands clean of that, yay!
STAGE 5: RESOLVE
[December 6, 2015 (1:13 AM)] – Let’s never do that again. I will always start immediately on my papers from now on. Or give myself at least 2 weeks. A couple days at the very least.
And there you are: the 5 stages of writing a paper. Feel free to share your wonderful habits in the comments – or share an even better distraction! To my fellow students (especially those also on a trimester/quarter schedule), happy finals week!
Cheers,
Michelle
LOL this is a very accurate depiction of my struggle right now! I’ve got 2 ten page essays due on Thursday and Friday this week.. one for women and gender studies, and one for philosophy.
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Ten pages??? 2 of them????? Holy heart attack, Batman. At least the philosophy one can be mostly BS 😉 Best of luck for the rest of this week!
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Bwahaha I lived that also! Too funny!
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Wow this is seriously so accurate for this time of year! Ugh I have three papers due this week and another bunch due next week for finals week. My motivation is non-existent. The only thing getting me through is the thought of going home for break and sleeping for probablyyyy a whole week straight.
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Oy vey, that’s a lot of papers. I took it easy this term and only took 2 classes. I’m actually procrastinating on my second and final paper for the term right now 😛 Good luck!
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Haha that’s alright, you’ll definitely get it done!! Thank you, good luck to you too 🙂
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