Illinibucks
may be useful when incoming freshman students are first selecting University
Housing, rather than utilizing a random lottery system as is currently in place.
Illinibucks may also be a major help whenever students are in a bind and need
to get somewhere very quickly such as to cut to the front of an extremely long
line at the grocery store or when running late to class to take the fast lane
to the front counter when you need a caffeine fix and there’s a line out the door
at a coffee shop.
My
ideal Illinibuck would be used to extend time and deadlines. Throughout my
college career I have struggled to manage my time efficiently and effectively.
To be quite honest, I’d prefer that the days we 48 rather than 24 to fit in
more activities, classes, research, a job, that swing dance class I have always
meant to take. Per se I had an incredibly hectic week, and was scraping by just
barely finishing assignments, forced by the t-me crunch to do the bare minimum just
to fit every class, extracurricular and life commitment in to the narrow bounds
of time! This epic mental battle of the quicksand hour glass- racing against
the clock on a day to day basis; at some point or another this is every college
student’s reality! We want it all. Could you blame us though? During the college
years the world is truly your oyster if you choose to take the initiative,
strive for it, and make so. Moving on from that slightly impassioned rant, the power
to control time and deadlines, to buy extensions on homework or an extra day to
study on an exam could make all the difference in a college student’s life. Rather
than acting as a direct route to the “front of the line” using Illinibucks to
schedule your time would allow you to get ahead in terms of the “quality of
work” and would enable you to truly put forth your best efforts when “lack of
time” is your primary adversary. In the realms of test taking and exam
preparation, buying that extra day could easily mean the difference between an “A”
and a “D” and give the student a opportunity to excel in the class as well as
to devote enough energy to other commitments.
If the administration price was too
low, students may approach the Illinibuck system opportunistically to their
short term benefit and detriment in the long run. In the case of buying time on
exams and homework, Illinibucks could encourage students to slack or promote the
formation of habits of procrastination. Cheap Illinibucks would remove the
pressure to excel and work hard and destroy the entire purpose of deadlines to
motivate student progress and create academic stagnancy. If the price of the Illinibuck
was too high most students couldn’t afford it and its benefits would only be
reserved to the wealthier students. This unequal distribution may build
negative sentiments in the student body and give wealthier students and unfair
advantage academically over those who could not afford to “buy” and extended
deadlin
You are not the first student who has told me that they are over programmed. The solution may not be time management but rather prioritization such that some activities are dropped from the list entirely. The bigger picture concern is that while you learn to keep many balls in the air at the same time, you don't learn how to do anything with depth and personal commitment.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really understand your middle paragraph. I did get that as you turn your attention to studying for an exam that you then want more time. But where is the congestion? If it were the custom to have a few students be allowed to take a makeup exam on a first come first served basis, that would do it. But I've never heard of that happening.