by: Loren Hinton
Well folks, here we are, rapidly approaching the end of another semester. Tests are coming up soon, and with them the dread of the final grade. I probably can’t speak for everyone but I don’t feel as though I am alone when I say that I don’t look forward to the door-die period known as final exam week.
I know that if I had studied harder throughout the first part of the semester I would not have to sweat out these last few weeks. But it seems that everytime that I would try to study, a friend would drop by, or there would be a party in the neighborhood, or there was a good football game or jiggly show on the tube. I have found that there are an almost infinite number of excuses for not studying, but almost everyone of them are attributed to just plain ole laziness.
If you have trouble studying and are on the verge of dropping all of your classes, let me tell you that the situation is probably not as gloomy as it seems. Most students tend to believe that they are doing worse in their classes than they truly are. It is just human nature for us to worry about the outcome of the exams, but we should not become preoccupied with our “doom”. After all, didn’t you enjoy the time that you wasted when you should have been studying?
Mr. Bell told us in psychology last week that we can learn to cope with our problems by looking at the bright side of each one. Instead of thinking that you can not see any possible way that you can cram enough of your upcoming tests, tell yourself that you have made it through the final tests before and that you can surely do it again. Of course, if you have encountered the final exams before and have not emerged victorious, then maybe you should find another means of achieving self-assurance, such as two solid weeks of prayer!
Christmas is in the air… already. Seems to me that every year the Christmas season begins a little earlier. I wouldn’t mind the longer period if it wasn’t just a shopping time. You hear it every year, but it seems that each new Christmas is more commercialized than the last. Remember when we were kids and this time of year seemed so magical? Now that we are older, the glitter that this season used to hold has seemed to fade, until what used to be THE DAY, has been changed to just another day. Often are the times that I have heard people say that “It just doesn’t seem like Christmas anymore.” Maybe this is because the merchants start their Christmas advertising in late October, rather than early December. The time is not so far away that the “Christmas in July” sales will be just that.