Adventures in Last-Minute Essay Writing
Nov. 10th, 2003 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfie_chanHi. It's been a weird past two days. Let me tell you about it.
This weekend, I was supposed to write two papers, both due Monday. I was silly enough to goof off all week (well, goof off and actually do some work), and I also goofed off all weekend--until Sunday evening. Difficulty number 1: Leaving two papers until the last minute.
Having left these papers until the last minute, I got to semi-serious work on them last night (while playing with Gaia Online and assorted other distractions). By the time midnight rolled around, I was almost done with the first paper...when the word processing program crashed. Now, this program was MSWorks, which is a crappy program and does not auto-save. That's right...I lost most of my paper. Luckily, I had a bit left behind...but I was nearly tearing my hair out because THE PAPER WAS DONE AND NOW I HAD TO RETYPE IT. I woke Alex up, but he was unable to help. Difficulty number 2: Angst and Time-Wasting, plus Guilt at having to wake up my husband. Also, cussing.
I decided that sleep was necessary in order to finish both papers by class the next day, so I got about four hours or so. Then I got up at 6:00 am to finish the papers. Luckily, I managed to scribble down the main ideas for the eaten paper the night before, so I got that one done lickety-split. Then I skipped my first two classes of the day to finish the second one. Both were done, reformatted on the big, main computer, double-spaced, numbered, and printed by the time Alex came back to pick me up and take me to turn them in. Joy number 1: Both Papers Done and No Morning Class.
Then tragedy struck. It was raining. Rain got on my glasses, rendering me effectively blind. I took a wrong turn on campus and got lost. I finally found the right building (where my teacher's office is) after getting a map. I was late. I went to the wrong office (my teacher has two offices). I panicked and got more lost. I slipped the paper under the door to one office and prayed that she would get it. I then wanted to call and leave a message on her answering machine, but I found that my cell phone was dead. I had no change. I continued to panic. Finally, a nice teacher came and saw how panicked and near tears I was, and she let me use the phone in her office. I missed my third class of the day because of all this running around. Difficulty number 3: Panic and Lack of Direction Sense. Also, much cussing.
Tonight, when I got home, I had a message on our answering machine from my teacher. She said that everything was fine, she would accept my paper, and I didn't need to worry. Alex turned to me and said, "She must have heard panic in your voice." Well, the paper is 20% of my grade! So...joy. Joy number 2: Paper Accepted and Victory Achieved.
My other paper got turned in on time, so no problems there, and discussion group (my final class of the day) went fine. We discussed The Wife of Bath, which is what I wrote my paper on. Heh. I'll have to get lecture notes from someone for class, but I kept up in discussion with no trouble.
I also got to have lunch with my parents and my brother, and I'm afraid they got the brunt of my panic--tears, incoherent sobs about everything that had gone wrong that morning, and fear that this paper that I had typed TWICE wouldn't even be accepted because it was a couple of minutes late. My parents were really nice about it, and my brother gave me a hug. Then I had food and felt much better--I'm sure it didn't help things that all I had this morning was a mug of eggnog. I also had a mocha after lunch, and that made me feel much better. Caffiene, dark chocolate, and peppermint make for a happy Elfie.
Now, I am at home, resting my poor little brain and smelling the wonderful smell of pasta sauce simmering. Alex and I are helping to cook for about 100 people at church on Wednesday...and we're preparing pretty much everything ahead of time so that all we have to do is cook and serve on the actual day. Lasagna, focaccia, and salad, plus varied desserts...mmm!
Today started out lousy, but it ended up pretty good. I think I came out ahead. I may do some writing later on...or not. Heh. I still have Japanese homework...ah, forget it. I deserve a break, right? ^_~ Ah...just call me the Princess of Procrastination.
This weekend, I was supposed to write two papers, both due Monday. I was silly enough to goof off all week (well, goof off and actually do some work), and I also goofed off all weekend--until Sunday evening. Difficulty number 1: Leaving two papers until the last minute.
Having left these papers until the last minute, I got to semi-serious work on them last night (while playing with Gaia Online and assorted other distractions). By the time midnight rolled around, I was almost done with the first paper...when the word processing program crashed. Now, this program was MSWorks, which is a crappy program and does not auto-save. That's right...I lost most of my paper. Luckily, I had a bit left behind...but I was nearly tearing my hair out because THE PAPER WAS DONE AND NOW I HAD TO RETYPE IT. I woke Alex up, but he was unable to help. Difficulty number 2: Angst and Time-Wasting, plus Guilt at having to wake up my husband. Also, cussing.
I decided that sleep was necessary in order to finish both papers by class the next day, so I got about four hours or so. Then I got up at 6:00 am to finish the papers. Luckily, I managed to scribble down the main ideas for the eaten paper the night before, so I got that one done lickety-split. Then I skipped my first two classes of the day to finish the second one. Both were done, reformatted on the big, main computer, double-spaced, numbered, and printed by the time Alex came back to pick me up and take me to turn them in. Joy number 1: Both Papers Done and No Morning Class.
Then tragedy struck. It was raining. Rain got on my glasses, rendering me effectively blind. I took a wrong turn on campus and got lost. I finally found the right building (where my teacher's office is) after getting a map. I was late. I went to the wrong office (my teacher has two offices). I panicked and got more lost. I slipped the paper under the door to one office and prayed that she would get it. I then wanted to call and leave a message on her answering machine, but I found that my cell phone was dead. I had no change. I continued to panic. Finally, a nice teacher came and saw how panicked and near tears I was, and she let me use the phone in her office. I missed my third class of the day because of all this running around. Difficulty number 3: Panic and Lack of Direction Sense. Also, much cussing.
Tonight, when I got home, I had a message on our answering machine from my teacher. She said that everything was fine, she would accept my paper, and I didn't need to worry. Alex turned to me and said, "She must have heard panic in your voice." Well, the paper is 20% of my grade! So...joy. Joy number 2: Paper Accepted and Victory Achieved.
My other paper got turned in on time, so no problems there, and discussion group (my final class of the day) went fine. We discussed The Wife of Bath, which is what I wrote my paper on. Heh. I'll have to get lecture notes from someone for class, but I kept up in discussion with no trouble.
I also got to have lunch with my parents and my brother, and I'm afraid they got the brunt of my panic--tears, incoherent sobs about everything that had gone wrong that morning, and fear that this paper that I had typed TWICE wouldn't even be accepted because it was a couple of minutes late. My parents were really nice about it, and my brother gave me a hug. Then I had food and felt much better--I'm sure it didn't help things that all I had this morning was a mug of eggnog. I also had a mocha after lunch, and that made me feel much better. Caffiene, dark chocolate, and peppermint make for a happy Elfie.
Now, I am at home, resting my poor little brain and smelling the wonderful smell of pasta sauce simmering. Alex and I are helping to cook for about 100 people at church on Wednesday...and we're preparing pretty much everything ahead of time so that all we have to do is cook and serve on the actual day. Lasagna, focaccia, and salad, plus varied desserts...mmm!
Today started out lousy, but it ended up pretty good. I think I came out ahead. I may do some writing later on...or not. Heh. I still have Japanese homework...ah, forget it. I deserve a break, right? ^_~ Ah...just call me the Princess of Procrastination.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:10 pm (UTC)*Can I go eat the food for ya???* please say yesh....... *doggy-eyes*
^^
School is fun!!!
Date: 2003-11-10 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 11:40 pm (UTC)Glad you got everything turned in okay. *Gives hugs and a pat on the head* Relax, and do your work sooner next time! ;)
no subject
Date: 2003-11-11 02:11 am (UTC)