December 2006:
Number 512
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A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin County Community College District. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.599.3142. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: Dec. 7 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Sydney Portilla-Diggs, student correspondent; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Teresa Danner, special contributor; Nick Young, photograpy and layout.
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Top 10 -- Things About Finals
Top 10 Things about Finals
10. Means to an End
The semester has to end somehow. So it might as well end with 20 percent of your final grade in the balance.
9. Join the Pride
If a long, grueling semester ended with, say, a one page essay about your plans to for the holiday break, it would be pretty anticlimatic. Once the final exam is complete, a student emits a little glow of pride.
8. Scantrons and No. 2 Pencils
Somewhere in Kansas or Ohio or wherever, there are employees of a No. 2 pencil and Scantron company that appreciate your academic participation.
7. The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Leave it to Tom Petty to correctly express the week or so between the end of finals and when grades posted. It’s excruciating no matter your grade point average.
6. Note Takers, Heartbreakers
The best release during finals week is marching to book store to sell your books back, and then going home and trashing the notes. Both had burdened your backpack and notebook for four months. It was time to let go.
5. Unity Through Study
The air of academic pursuit is ripe during finals. The libraries are filled with busy little bees -- who are all in the same hive and must toil before tasting the sweet reward of the holiday.
4. Look on the Bright Side of Life
A lot of students freak out about finals. But hardly ever does it end as bad as they imagine.
3. Mr. Coffee
Ginseng. Fish. Coffee. Red Bull. All potential anecdotes for the student seeking an edge during those cram sessions that even the most-prepared students tend to participate in.
2. Can Not Get Any More Stressful
Maybe not.
1. Nothing
Finals week is when many students run the gamut of emotions -- anxiety, fear, excitement, relief, etc. -- and on top of that many are balancing family, friends, jobs and a host of other responsibilities. So how could there be any good thing to come from this week that can potentially define an entire semester of work? Finals week is partly about the questions and answers, but part of it is about the preparation, time management and the extraordinary way students handle it all. It’s a timeless rite of passage.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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