B.S.ing my Papers: Like a Pro

Confession: Sometimes, when you are in college, you have to fudge your assignments a little bit.

Because, let's be honest. College professors don't always care if you actually do the all the work, so much as  if what you turn in is good. They just want to see a good essay. They don't have to know if you actually intend on doing everything you say you'll do in your papers (especially those introspective ones), just as long as it sounds good.

Personally, I don't like lying in a paper, and I generally strive for excellence. But occasionally, when I'm really struggling with a paper, I'll, for lack of better phrasing, "B.S. my way through it." Last week was just one of those weeks. It was an 800-1000 word paper and I wasn't really feeling inspired by the topic, "how you will create a learning atmosphere in an organization in which you are involved."

But, I bush-whacked my way though it late Thursday night (it was due Saturday), and while I didn't blatantly make up stuff for it, as I was writing it I did keep saying to myself, "This is crap." I was certain that what I was writing would not be what my teacher was looking for, but at a loss for what else to do, I plugged away at it.

A day later, when I was proofreading it, I realized that the basis of the paper was actually not half bad. (Even I surprise myself sometimes!) But I still didn't feel very confident about it when I turned it in and I was hyper-aware of the fact that I used the word "encourage" no less than five times. (It was more before that, but I referred to a thesaurus for a few of those instances.)

I finally got my paper back with a score of 20/20 and this is what my teacher had to say:

Good job, Misha.  Not only did you have a clear and concise paper but your also had a generous smattering of course concepts throughout that demonstrated your good grasp of the material and how it could be applied to your organization.  It's very gratifying to have students, such as you, who can not only learn and understand concepts but also, and most importantly, have the wisdom for application.  Thanks for helping to make my day!  MB

So apparently, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Gotta love that!

First Paper Returned!

This summer, I'm taking two online courses in "Leadership Theory and Practice" and "Leadership Management and Communication" (two really long phrases that basically mean "leadership and communication.) for college plus.

Both are fascinating courses, though the workload is intense. For one of them, I have to write a two page paper each week in a study of how communication works in an organization of my choice. Exciting stuff(!) I was at a loss for what org to choose. I originally wanted to study TYPS, but the timing was bad for them as they're preparing to go to a national competition next month. Instead, I chose our youth outreach group at church, simply because I have intimate knowledge of how it works and what communication they use etc etc.

Annnnyways... I got my first paper returned to me, and I scored 27/30 points! ^-^ Shoutout to my awesome editor/consultant/advisor-- Dad!! He is the reason I deleted a horrendous paragraph that read like a narrative and not like an essay. Many thanks to him, and much excitement looking forward!