Issue date: 12/13/07 Section: Style

Media Credit: Adrianne Hess outh year, Jamie Larese sits in the Oaks room studying for her World Food and Nutrition class.

Media Credit: Adrianne Hess Zebulon Chouinard finishing up some new media homework before the end of the semester.

Media Credit: Adrianne Hess Kate Cummings prepares info packets for a class.

When most University of Maine students think of final exams, images of all-nighters and last-minute cramming spring to the forefront. While this seems to be the norm among the UMaine community, there is a small subset of individuals that forego the procrastination techniques most students subscribe to.

Walking through the library Tuesday night, one was greeted by dozens of furrowed brows, busily buried in uninviting textbooks and hastily scribbled notes.

Why is it that students, time and time again, wait until the last possible moments to begin their study sessions? Do college students have some sort of masochistic desire to stress as much as possible in the period directly preceding finals?

Speaking to a self-professed procrastinator, Caitlin Meyer, a senior elementary education major, rationalized why she staved off her work. "It's how I've done every project," Meyer admitted. "I'm just a last-minute kind of person." Meyer was taking time away from compiling a semester's worth of work to relate why she waited until now to buckle down and tackle the assignment. "I'll definitely be up all night," Meyer regretfully conceded while searching for five sections she appeared to be lacking.

However, Meyer seemed to take it all in stride. Even faced with the daunting fact that she would be up all night and student teaching in the morning, she had a rather laissez-faire attitude; she understood that it was no one's fault but her own for the situation she found herself in. When asked why she waited so long to take on such a significant project, she simply stated, "I just keep finding bigger and better things to do."

Conversely, sitting across the same large table in the reading room of the library was another senior elementary education major, Theresa McDonnell. McDonnell chose a different path with her semester-long project. She chipped away at it all semester, adding small pieces throughout, keeping up with the work and not waiting to get her work done. "I get stressed out when I have things to do," McDonnell said of her tendency to stay caught up with work. "I always have ... I guess I'm just motivated."

This motivated individual had a significantly reduced burden on her for the evening; her only remaining work was a reflection over the semester's accomplishments, far less than the daunting load awaiting Meyer. However, McDonnell sat in stoic support of her friend, a guiding light for Meyer's wayward voyage into temporary insomnia, generously offering assistance when asked.

As conversations progressed from table to table and new people were met with new deadlines, it became clear that a whole spectrum of procrastination was in place. Not every story heard was as drastic as Meyer's, and in fact, most had only been putting off studying for a few weeks. Although, to be fair, most spoken to had had a previous test in the last few weeks.

Susan Goniprow, an undecided first-year, had staked out a table with senior accounting major, Loralie Moody, to go over a statistics assignment, due the next day. Both Goniprow and Moody said they generally keep up with their studies, however they found that difficult to do with their statistics class. It seemed quite clear they had little interest in the exciting world of statistics and this translated into being unmotivated to stay abreast of the material.

From the procrastinators questioned, there was a fair amount of rationalization as to why studying was put off in the first place. The most cited reason was that the given person works better under pressure. Perhaps this was true; however, it was clear that those who were studying for next week's final exams were visually less apprehensive about the future.

On two occasions, students refused to comment for fear their professors might discover their students' lackadaisical approach to studying up until the night before the big test. Although, interestingly, the students who were more pressed for time seemed more willing to talk for longer periods of time.

As difficult and as daunting as a task may seem, Mary Beth Willett, the interim tutor director, suggests breaking large projects into smaller, more accessible pieces. Willett also hinted at creating rewards for when tasks are completed. They could be as small or as large as one chooses, from taking a coffee break with friends, or buying that new expensive toy from Amazon.com.

Since students were introduced to homework, they have been taught to think ahead, to prioritize, to manage their time appropriately, but it remains unclear why college students prefer to take the stressful approach and put off the work until there is no time to spare. However, a minority of students seem to have taken those grade-school lessons to heart and have come out on top. That being said, other students appear to be living by the mantra that it is never too late to start studying … until it is too late.

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