Students catch up before finals at after-hours event in the library:
By: WESLEY WARD STAFF WRITER:
To combat procrastination, STLCC Meramec hosted a ‘Long Night Against Procrastination’ event on the evening of Saturday, April 24. The event was organized to offer students a chance to catch up on school work.
“It’s two weeks before finals. People have a lot of stuff due,” said event organizer Cindy Clausen, kicking off the night with a presentation on the ‘Pomodoro Technique,’ which is a method of completing work based on regular intervals of work time and break time.
The first step, according to Clausen, is to figure out what work needs to be completed, then estimate how much time it will take to complete it and divide that time into 25 minute intervals, known as ‘pomodoros.’ In between each pomodoro is a five minute break, with a 30 minute break every four pomodoros. Some find the technique useful, such as Meramec Student Joseph Pirri,
“It’s a really effective technique. You’re able to track real work. You’re able to track deep work,” said Pirri.
While it was encouraged, the technique was not useful for students like Lily Polley, who said, “Once I get going, I shouldn’t stop because I have my energy. If I lose it, then I’m not going to get back to it for a while.”
Students were not the only beneficiaries of the event. Math tutor Joan Luffrio attended the event as an adjunct.
“They needed somebody to fill in, and I thought, What better way to get to know the curriculum and professors better?” said Luffrio.
According to Catie Wisniewski, one of the writing tutors, procrastination does not only affect students.
“As an adult, I have a hard time with procrastinating, and so having something like this would have been a great way to set a goal and actually get it done in a set amount of time,” said Wisniewski.
Wisniewski also offered some tips to overcome procrastination when it comes to writing.
“I often times wrote papers out of order because I would just start with whatever topic that I was most confident about, or that I really wanted to write about or had the most information on. Starting with something that you know you can do [can help] to get the ball rolling,” said Wisniewski.
In addition to providing an environment for people to study and work in, free refreshments, snacks and pizza were offered to everyone who attended.
Faculty members from the Math, Science, Writing, and ESL departments were available for tutoring, offering workshops for specific tasks like writing thesis statements. Board games and other recreational activities were set up in rooms for students to use during their break times, with a dance party held at midnight. Afterward, the students continued their work until the event concluded at 2 a.m.
