"OH, @#$@#$!" What to do when you've backed yourself into a corner.

There are going to be times when, no matter what happens and no matter how much effort you put in to something...you're going to screw up. Sometimes, the fall is negligible or easily shrugged off - many times I neglected papers (sometimes final papers) that were only worth 5 to 10% of my grade.

I think the reason I usually procrastinated my papers for so long was due to my horrible problems with writer's block - until I was FORCED by timelines to attempt to finish them. Other times I just gave up before starting because I knew I was doomed from the beginning. I've already written on my experience defeating writer's block to potentially protect you from that; but I have not yet spoken about too little, too late.

In addition to stalling and procrastinating papers, I've also slept through tests, not done groupwork by the time our group was supposed to meet, and (when I was REALLY mentally sick) even not shown up for a group presentation before. It's an awful, humiliating feeling.

This is probably the most...somber post I've written about so far, but it is something that has come up in part due to the walls on one of the facebook groups I'm a member of. While it may not seem like it, your reaction after screwing up is a CRITICAL part of survival! I'll take you step by step through the process.

Assess the Damage

One thing I will preach (from here on out, since I haven't yet) over and over again is that you must always know where you stand. You can't make a reasonable decision if you don't. In pure survival terms, the difference between an A and a B is a laughable difference in GPA - the difference between a D and an F is credit...or, as in my own personal circumstances, the difference between a D+ and a C- could be graduation. To give you an idea of how my college letter grades look...let's just say you could almost write a symphony with my transcript. I graduated with a GPA between 2.6 and 2.7; and I was even smart enough to join MENSA.

What kind of a grade were you getting before? What % of your final grade is this project? Are there more projects coming up? Do you have a cushion? Do you have, or can you get partial credit? How's your relationship with your teacher? Can you afford to let it slide? Or worse, is it a group assignment?

All of these questions are important, as their answers dictate how you can outwardly react. If your grades are decent, the project isn't worth much, and you feel like you'll pass without worrying about it - you may be able to just ignore it...it's your choice. I've done it before, and I passed. My grades took a beating, but that was acceptable damage. Those 5 and 10% hits were easy to take, because my test scores almost always made up for it. 15% is...borderline. You'd better know yourself pretty darn well before you let go of 15%. The thing is, in any case - you may not have to let go of these assignments.

Look at your options

I've already told you your first option: not to bother. That one's easy. The next options aren't too difficult, but getting the nerve to acutally do them certainly can be. Do you have *anything* you can turn in? If you can get partial credit and don't want to think about your assignment any more - 50% is a lot better than zero.

If this is important to you, you'll need to find a way to buy yourself more time to finish. If you're on 504 accomodations, this is fairly straightforward: ask for more time. Extensions were one of the options consistently offered to me by my counseling centers. Preferably, ask for more time no later than the morning the assignment is due - earlier if possible. Even if you don't have 504 accomodations, you may still be able to ask. Know your teacher, and your stance WITH your teacher. This could make a huge difference. As I said, the earlier you are able to ask, the better off you'll be. While you're looking to pass, you don't want to put *too* much pressure on your teachers.

Sometimes, espeically with a proactive teacher, you might get lucky by simply turning in what you've got. I've done that before, and received an e-mail later that day saying "I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you turned in this draft by mistake. Send me the full paper as soon as possible."

What I had done, to get as much partial credit as possible after starting late, was just start typing what I could - and when I hit writer's block, I found a quote that I was able to use as a catalyst for ideas, wrote the quote out below what I wrote, and just started typing like crazy. Very few teachers will react like this, however. More often than not, you're going to need to speak to them PERSONALLY if you want more time. This also includes discussing things with other students when you've screwed up on a group project.

Discuss matters with those affected (teachers and other students)

I can just feel all of you cringing right now at this suggestion. I don't blame you - it SUCKS...especially when you could bring other people down with you. Before I go further, let me just give you some of my personal observations - they're important enough to deserve all caps and boldface:

1. SHOW THAT YOU'RE DOING THE BEST YOU CAN, AND BE WILLING TO ASK FOR HELP. Whatever that entails, do it.
   
2. YOUR TEACHERS AND GROUPMATES ARE ON YOUR SIDE. Nobody wants to see you fail - while they may be frustrated, angry or disappointed, people will likely cut you some slack if they see that you're trying!
3. AVOID ALIENATING THE PEOPLE YOU'RE WORKING WITH/FOR IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. You need them to help you, and may be working with them later.
   
4. IF YOU WOULDN'T SAY IT TO A CLASSMATE, DON'T SAY IT TO A TEACHER. Students are typically not going to buy into BS - especially when their own grades are on the line. In addition, your teachers are professionals - they've been in academia a lot longer than you have.
5. 504 ACCOMODATIONS (if you have them) DO *NOT* - I REPEAT, DO *NOT* - OBLIGATE YOUR TEACHERS TO PASS YOU. I can't stress this important fact enough.
6. IN EXTREME CASES, THE LAST DAY OF CLASS MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE. There's a delay between the last day of finals and when grades are due to the administration. In addition, at least at my school, I was sometimes able to get 'incompletes' on my grades which could give you an additional week or so over the grade due dates to revive your standing. This is something you MUST speak with your teacher/professor about if things come down to this, as it requires a LOT of effort from both you *and* them.
   

These are extremely important to keep in mind as you explain your situation to the people around you.

I firmly believe that the less time you spend making up a story as to what happened, the better off you're going to be. Sometimes you'll get lucky and ridiculous events just happen to be the truth. I have typically had more pleasant experiences when I've told the truth than when I've tried to BS my way out of something. I'm warning you, it probably won't be pretty when you admit you screwed up, but by taking ownership of your mistakes you're more likely to get the help you need. Doing it the first time is by far the hardest; I assure you though, it gets easier over time.

I have been (justifiably) chewed out by both teachers and students, but have also been shocked by the actions others took to help bail me out. This has all happened with both teachers AND students. I will never forget the kindness one group leader showed me when I admitted to the group that I hadn't done my work. She simply nodded, and without batting an eye or ANY visible change in emotion, she calmly gave me her notes, and told me to read the highlighted parts to prepare. It was amazing - nobody had EVER reacted to me that way before.

One time I slept through a test, and later that afternoon sent an apologetic message to the professor, asking if I could come in another time and take it. He sent me a message that basically said, "It depends on why you missed it." At that point I figured I was doomed anyway, so I told him the truth. He let me come in on a Saturday when other people were working on a competition test to finish it; he then told me as I handed it in that the only reason he let me make it up was because I told the truth.

Follow Through

You may not always get lucky, but at least, by building up a record of honesty you have a better chance. It takes a LOT more for a teacher who likes you to fail you from a course. If you DO get an extension, make every effort to get the teacher what you promised to deliver! Do whatever it takes - use the rest of my blog to help you make the most of your time. Best of luck to you - hopefully you won't find yourself in this big of a jam again.

Before I close on this post, I'd just like to comment on the size of my schools. I went to a fairly small college, about 1200-1500 students, and a similarly sized high school - about 250 kids in my graduating class. These tips worked wonders at my college. Could anyone comment on large/huge colleges? Please leave comments and observations.

This is an extensive post, and if I've missed anything, I will add it at a later date if I catch it. Again, best of luck!