As the end of the semester nears, I know many of us are preparing for exams or writing papers (perhaps both?), while also trying to have some semblance of a life outside of school as the holidays approach.

Procrastinating on a final paper can be incredibly tempting. After all, many people do perform well under pressure. However, there’s an invaluable affordance that comes with getting a paper done a bit earlier: you can submit it to the writing center at Shady Grove!

“I can just get a friend/colleague/mom/grandma/roommate to look over my paper–he’s a journalist/editor/writer….” I can hear it already. To be honest, I’ve come up with that excuse multiple times as both an undergrad and a graduate student. Though there may be other helpful resources in your life, we all know that we tend to procrastinate on sending those loved ones our papers because we’re afraid to ask for them to take time away from their lives to help us with our papers. Then, we feel obligated to repay them somehow. Suddenly, you’re spending a few extra minutes (hours?) a day mulling about when to ask them, how to ask them, and/or how to repay them for the favor.

The Center for Academic success was created to help students. At the writing center, the consultants knew what the were signing up for–they want to help you learn your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. In addition to letting go of the feeling of “oh no, I’m inconveniencing someone,” you also get to sign up for consultations at your convenience. Sign up, which includes online consultations, can be done easily with your UID login info at WCOnline.

Though there are some constraints with what kind of paper you can bring to the table (not your entire thesis), the freedom to do up to two consultations for two weeks shows just how much USG has our backs. It’s hard to imagine a situation more convenient.