LDOC!
In this Issue: it’s LDOC (Last Day of Class) – now is the time to balance between two compelling urges
Happy LDOC to all! Your Deacs have made it through the final official day of class. Now all that is left is final exams, papers, and/or projects that are due.
Every spring LDOC makes me think of two really compelling urges:
1) spend as much time as you can outside because it is so beautiful right now, and spend time with your friends before going home for the summer (or graduating), and
2) lock in and focus fully on studying and finishing the semester strong
I have found a couple of pictures that illustrates the above points. First up – the fun picture 🙂
It’s 12:20 pm and this is the view from the Quad Cam: grass so green, sky so blue, clouds so white, students dotted across the Quad. Perfection.
Our Quad grass gets a lot of extra attention in the weeks leading up to Commencement. Right now the Quad is wide open – but in just a couple weeks there will be a grand stage and over 10,000 chairs laid out in perfectly straight rows.
On a day like today – when it is sunny and high 70s – your Deacs ought to get out on the Quad, take their shoes off, and have a nice stroll in the grass. Pre-Commencement Quad grass feels like a soft, velvety carpet; it feels great against your feet. (Whereas post-Commencement grass will be ground down from those same 10,000 people walking in the aisles between the rows of Commencement seating.)
So if the above is the beauty shot, here is the lock in shot:
This picture was taken during finals many years ago; a student was studying in the library and this was their to-do list. It reads:
– read over notes again
– read over descriptions of articles
– go over flash cards
– read How Sociologists do Research
– go over flash cards again
– go over descriptions of articles again
– read notes again
– review research methods
– go over flash cards
Over the years, people have had wildly differing reactions to this picture and what it represents. To some, it looks organized and like this student has a great game plan; to others, this note reads like overkill and represents a truly stressed-out student. One administrator I have known for years always described this note as “poignant.”
Of course our Deacs need to lock in before finals. They need to muster all their productivity and use whatever methods are in their toolboxes to finish the important business of the semester.
But I am all about balance. So I hope as our students go through the next couple of weeks, they can find time to work and play. Our students will need some time in the sun, and some time with the friends who are important to them; they will also need some time to study for exams. But not one at the expense of the other 🙂
And then before you know it, we’ll see the ’25s and P’25s here for Commencement! Let’s all start thinking good weather thoughts for Commencement weekend now!