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!

How You Study For Exams And What That Says About Your Personality

Students at Nipissing University have found many ways to study for exams. Here I'll give a breakdown of some of these strategies and what they might have to imply about your attitude toward life.

Cramming the Night Before
I'm sure we've all been here. But really, nothing says you'll be a life-long slacker like trying to absorb as much information as possible the night before an exam. Obviously you don't take life seriously. You'll end up being a workaholic trying to get that quarterly report done before it has to be on your superior's desk the next morning. Double trouble: you like to brag that you crammed the night before, know nothing about the material, and then somehow find a way to blame the professor for the irrelevance of the class. Nice try, Sally.

Studying in Groups
Obviously you have no individuality if you take part in group study sessions. You rely on others for not just support but to do most of the work. Your attitude in life is to take as much and give as little as possible. But, you'll conceal this fact by trying to seem knowledgeable about the material at hand. What you don't know: others in the group can see right through you and will try to cut you loose at the first opportunity.

Reading and Re-reading Lecture Notes Well Before Hand
OCD, anyone? It is apparent that you are too meticulous of a person to care about anything else. You like to do things repeatedly. You like to do things repeatedly. Even though you've gone through your notes numerous times, you still seem to forget a few pieces of information. The insecurity of knowing that you didn't absorb everything will drive you over the edge.

Highlighting the Important Points
Selecting the important stuff by using colour, are we? Well nothing spells Social Darwinism better than being a racist person now does it? Apparently you know so much about the material that you can distinguish between relevant material and "filler facts." Sorry, my friend, all you're doing is trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. You're one to make quick judgement of other people due to your superiority complex. Sorry about your insecurity, Truman.

If there is anything that you should have learned while studying for final exams is that they are bad things that create bad people. You don't want to be a bad person, do you? So tear up that exam paper and walk out the door with your head held high knowing that you are smarter than everyone else who things they know what they're doing.