By
Shaun Clayton
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Perhaps it's Sunday night. The paper you should have been working on all week has not even made it past the name and date and it is due tomorrow - a common scenario to those who put things off to the last minute.
While some people might say "screw it" and blow the paper off, keeping their slacking streak intact, others will accept their fate and hunker down for a long, sleepless night of staring into a computer screen, nursing a Jolt Cola while forcing words to take shape.
Now, it should make logical sense that a person would not allow themselves to get into this mess. Starting work on a project well ahead of its due date will allow plenty of time to complete it and allow one to manage their time properly.
However, human beings are frequently subject to their irrational desires. Sometimes, going to a party, sleeping or watching "Thundercats" are much more satisfying to the psyche than doing a critical analysis paper of, say, Tennessee Williams and his role in Japanese No theater.
The voice of the responsible Superego is silenced in one's mind as the childlike Id wins its battle for personal satisfaction at the cost of suffering in the near future.
Then again, when that person is sitting there, on the Sunday night, with the He-Manian task of completing a week of work in a few hours, a special gift is given to that person - stress. Usually, it's stress of a size equivalent to that of Elvis' waistline close to his death.
This stress now affects these people, by making them work at a level that they normally would not if they happened to start their papers at a sensible point in time. Adrenaline kicks in, and that person is off and running, typing away like there is no tomorrow, which is true if the paper happens to make up at least 25 percent of the grade.
Now, the person has to deal with several kinds of stress. First of all, there is the stress related to just writing the paper itself, with its fact finding, organization and mucking about with Microsoft Word's auto correct function. Second, there is the added stress of getting the paper done in the time limit provided. And third, there is usually the stress of battling against sleep.
Many times, the battle against sleep will be lost, one way or another, with the person passing out before completing the paper, or even worse, completing the paper then passing out and sleeping through the class for which the paper was being written.
The other two factors can play an important role in the creation of the paper, though. Fact finding and organization suddenly get a whole lot easier when there's the added stress of a time limit put on it.
Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo possibly due to resentment towards his parents? Uh - sure! It's in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993 edition (they'll never check).
Most important of all, though, the stress and fatigue tends to destroy one's inhibitions, so suddenly sprinkling the text with the word "damnit" every so often no longer seems like a bad idea. The words start flowing from deep inside, from the heart, without reason, just pure impulse and instinct.
If the paper manages to get completed, there is a good chance it will be a very unique paper in regards to the rest. A college professor might notice this uniqueness, chalk it up to an exercise in ecclectic brilliance and mark down an "A" in the grade book with zest.
Then again, the paper could be so badly done, the professor will see it for what it is, written with haste at the last minute, chalk it up to an exercise in common ignorance and mark down a "D" in the grade book with zest.
It's hard to tell. So many questions to answer. Perhaps it is best sometimes if things go unfinis. . .
