Sunday, February 15, 2009

Reading Week vs. Sleeping Week

At Nipissing University, there are few things that students look forward to. Most of them surround holidays, when there are no classes, and times when exams will be over such as Christmas break and the end of the year in April. In between these times, we still get to experience March Break as it is known to our high school inferiors. However, this break is known as Reading Week or Study Week in unispeak (definition of unispeak: noun. an Orwellian developed term that encompasses the language used at post-secondary levels of education, specifically universities).

Reading Week is one of those breaks from the normal routine of classes where students do the complete opposite of what the break suggests. That is right; I doubt that much reading gets accomplished during this so called Reading Week. But for those of us who actually do take advantage of the time, there are numerous things that you could be doing such as 1) actually reading; 2) highlighting material in your textbook to make it look like you are actually reading; 3) write essays and work on other assignments; 4) study for mid-term exams; or 5) wallow in self-pity knowing that you completely bombed the mid-term exams that you wrote BEFORE the break started.

So, my fellow university students, take advantage of this break. Sleep in! Stay up late! Visit with friends from highschool who you occasionally chat with and meet up with thrice a year. And do not forget to bring back some home backed goods and other supplies that will be the envy of your other roommates and friends.

The good thing about Nipissing University: you get two Reading Weeks. One in the fall. One in the winter. That is double the sleeping time. Happy reading!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should have said, two reading weeks are doubleplus good!

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed that you used "unispeak" in a sentence. How remarkably literate of you.

Sharon said...

Great writing Ian! Keep up the great blogging;)

Sharon said...

Most students don't realize why the second week was initiated a few years ago which was to accommodate placements for our concurrent education students...so thank your friends and roomates in the program!!