Diary of a Sleep-Deprived "Scientist": Entry #1



Monday October 14th. Setting: McCormick Hall. Time: 9:59 PM. They really be out here. 

Dear Diary,

Even though we were warned from the very beginning that this was coming. Even though we've had assignments preparing us for this assignment. Even though past 109ers warned us that procrastination is a no no for this class, it's hard to break old habits. After spending Friday night staring at a blank Google Slides and a couple of figures, I called it a day and hoped I could find guidance and enlightenment from Becky, Leslie, and Noreen the next day during office hours.

I told myself I was gonna wake up @ 8:00 AM so I had something tangible to bring to office hours. Obviously, I overslept, scrambled for my backpack, and ran to office hours @ 10:03 AM. I opened my laptop and continued to stare at a blank screen. To break this cycle of nothingness, I relied on my best skill: word vomit (I have to get something on the page at some point). After 8 hours of office hours, my productivity: 1 results slide, meaning it would take me 40 hours to complete my part of the assignment (bless up I didn't have to do this on my own). However, after trial and error of the first results slide, and the comments from past iterations, it became easier to write the results in a "scientific" way, such that the next day I was able to finish my part, but I knew I had to get a second set of eyes on this. 

However, I had no specific questions in mind that I could ask the 109 staff to flame/roast my part of the essay. But like the sunrise on the darkest of days, the comm lab was there to save me. This individual was who I needed to give me hope on a Monday morning @10 AM (AND IT WAS A HOLIDAY!!!!). After an hour of back and forth what came about was a decent first draft. I thought I was done, but @ 8:30 PM, I stood corrected.

The final hurdle that I needed to surpass to enjoy what was left of my "4-Day Weekend": Title and Abstract. You would think that a summary would be easy to complete, but I had writers block. Just like how it's difficult to fit one's life in a biography, it was difficult to encapsulate a modules worth of information in a paragraph, especially into a sentence. But in the end, something was written, something was turned in, and @ 10:01 PM, like Dobby after getting Harry Potter's sock, like Princess Peach after Mario spends an entire game beating up Bowser, like Genie at the end of Aladdin, I was free. 

What did I learn? Writing for science is hard. Major assignments are called major assignments for a reason. And if you are exposed to MMS and As, you're gonna have a bad time. 

Now, I feel kind of, somewhat, just a bit prepared for this Mod 2 Research Article, let's just hope future me learns from my mistakes (but let's be honest old habits die hard). So future me, if you're reading this (cause you're procrastinating):
  • Start early (duh)
  • Make your comm lab appointment NOW!
  • Word Vomit +1
  • There are prompts for a reason
  • You will survive (I don't know about thrive)


Love, 
Past You

[Warning: Self-Deprecating Memes to Follow]







Grade: 1/3


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