Out-Of-Class #1: An Okay Example ...

... with decent structure and writing, but a few issues that are typical for a first out-of-classer:

(name redacted)

June 23, 2014

Out-of-class 1

FINALS STRESS

Stress levels among students at Michigan State University are at an all-time high COMMA HERE according to students and faculty members at the university.

Finals week, the time when professors assign tests that challenge students on material covered throughout the semester, are the main source of the problem COMMA HERE according to Michigan State University student Nicholas Shatney.

“There is just so much that we need to prepare for,” Shatney said. “Professors could honestly test us on anything that they have said throughout the semester. It adds a ton of stress to my life thinking about all the topics that I need to prepare for and become knowledgeable about.”

Students typically begin preparing for finals week a couple weeks in advance, Shatney said. However, some students begin preparation a little bit later than others and that usually adds more stress COMMA HERE said Shatney. ONLY ONE ATTRIBUTION NEEDED IN ANY PARAGRAPH WHERE THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE

“Kids have come up to me in the past asking for more time to prepare,” said Robert Bell, a Michigan State University graduate assistant in the accounting program at the university.

“There usually isn’t a whole lot that I can do for them. We tell students what day their final exam will be on in the beginning of the semester,” Bell said. “They should have plenty of time to prepare and get comfortable enough with the material so that they do not stress out.”

Bell SAID HE believes that a lot of the stress that students feel around finals week is actually due to a lack of preparation from students.

“I’ve found that most students who complain about stress are the ones who have missed assignments throughout the semester. They put all their eggs in the finals basket and expect that their grade on the final will make up for the lack of work that they have done all year,” said Bell.

Some parents oppose the viewpoint of Bell and were quick to point out that not all students rely on the final to turn their grade around.

Dawn Miller, mother of a former nursing student and a current packaging student at Michigan State, said that both her children have always excelled throughout the semester but noted that their stress levels around finals week are usually noticeably high.

“I think my children are usually just nervous about ruining all the work that they put into the semester. Teachers ask so much of students during finals week. Kids have three or four different classes that they have to start studying for and since every final is worth such a big part of their grade, kids start to freak out and stress,” Miller said.

Miller said that her children never really dealt with stress outside of school. She said ONLY ONE ATTRIBUTION NEEDED IN ANY PARAGRAPH WHERE THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE they grew up in high-pressure situations playing sports their entire lives, but she never saw stress the way she does around the end of each semester.

“I usually end up on the phone with my daughter trying to talk her out of the meltdown she is having. Finals cause her to freak out. She sets such a high standard for herself that there is usually nothing I can say that makes her feel more comfortable,” said Miller.

Despite all the attention that this topic is generating, some students have realized that they add a lot of pressure to themselves that wouldn’t necessarily be there if they didn’t hold themselves to such a high standard.

“I put the most pressure on myself to succeed. I’ve found that my professors and my family have always been nothing but encouraging,” said Alex Wrobleski, a current accounting student at Michigan State University. “The stress comes from myself. It’s usually when I put off studying or have been doing bad in the class.”

Bell SAID HE; ATTRIBUTE! believes that the solution for this problem will eventually have to come from the students.

“Once students realize that they are not set up to fail like so many of them believe, then we will make progress in solving this problem. Kids think we are trying to make them nervous and that we enjoy making them anxious. That is definitely not the case,” Bell said. 

The anxiety felt by students is sometimes a good thing COMMA HERE Bell said. He believes that it shows how much some students care about school and said that it is refreshing to see kids so actively involved in their education.

“Too much stress is a bad thing. However, these young adults have no idea what real stress is yet. Many of them do not have a real job yet or a family to feed. That is real stress,” Bell said. “In a weird way, stressing over a final exam might help students in the long run as they become adults. They will have dealt with pressure and know how to handle stress later in life.”

References

Nicholas Shatney-  Michigan State Supply Chain Management Student – 206 Commerce Road, Milford, MI  48381 – 248-505-1360 – shatney1@msu.edu

Robert Bell- Michigan State Accounting Major, graduate assistant- 3086 Hickory Ridge Trail, Milford, MI 48380 – 248-464-2218 – bellrob6@msu.edu

Alex Wrobleski – Michigan State Accounting Major – 788 Dorchester Way Milford, MI 48381 – 248-231-9877 – wrobles3@msu.edu

Dawn Miller- Michigan State University parent of two students – 425 Chatam Drive Milford, MI 48381 – 248-790-9327

ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (grade redacted)

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS: NICE OVERALL STRUCTURE AND WRITING; WHAT WE ARE MOST MISSING ARE MORE TEACHER VOICES/OBSERVATIONS; A NEUTRAL EXPERT LIKE A SOCIOLOGIST OR A TEACHING TEACHER WHO CAN EXPAND ON THE MENTAL DYNAMICS OF FINALS WEEK; AND PERHAPS SOME DATA THAT WOULD OFFER UNDERLYING SUPPORT THAT THIS INDEED IS A REAL PROBLEM AND NOT JUST A FEELING THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE.