NO to Five-point-Zero!

Graduating in college with flying colors is probably a dream-come-true for some students. However, for others, just being able to pass each subject and move on to the next is already an achievement. Nonetheless, we have one goal in common- to have a presentable transcript of records with no failing grades at all.

Some say that having a failing grade is inevitable and is part of the learning process, but to those who aced their way through college, avoiding failures means avoiding these...

· Being a “YES” man…

            It is difficult to say “NO” to a friend. Right? Especially if it involves beer houses, disco bars and other barkada gigs. As they said, “That is what friends are for… for good times and bad times”. But it does not have to reach bad times if you only know how to say “NO” especially if you have pending homework and quizzes in queue.   After all, if they are really your friends, they will understand. So start saying “NO”. It might be just a two-letter-word but that is all it takes to start the difference.

· Shopping schedule unwisely…

            Although most subjects in this university are already pre-arranged for the students to avoid conflicts of schedule, some students are just unwise enough to pick the schedule they feel they are comfortable with. However, while in the middle of the semester, they just realize that their chosen schedules gave them a hard time to comply all the requirements due on the same day.  Hence, they fail to submit one or two requirements because of the lack of time to complete an array of homework.

            So, if you are wise enough, try to weigh each subject and consider the time it might require. Adjust your schedule based on the subject and not based on your comfort. After all, college is not about balancing things to become comfortable but rather, it is about being comfortable at balancing things.

· Being a escape artist…

            Dealing with the headache brought by piles of paperwork and pillars of books to read is very draining. Hence, we tend to avoid the psychological distress by diverting our attention away from our tasks. But running away from our responsibilities will only temporarily relieve us from the stress while new tasks are adding to the pile. And since these tasks will not complete themselves, we will have to face them eventually.  And before we know it, we become more stressed after finding out that our original hills-of-paperwork became mountains-of-overdue- projects. Getting rid of procrastination means getting rid of the “manyana” habit and balancing responsibility with leisure.

· Taking things for granted...

While some students exert effort to impress people and reach the class’s spotlight, some are just contented with being an ordinary student- having outputs that are hastily done, quiz results that are just at the borderline and everything done out of mediocrity. Although it is not wrong to be contented with what you have, but knowing that you can do more and not doing it makes you wrong.

While some people say that education is not a race. In the end, it is still a race against time, quality and yourself. So start beating them up!  Outrun quality by soaring above the standards, transcend time by beating the dead lines and defy yourself by being extraordinary.

· Hating where you are…

            Students claim that they fail because they were just forced by their parents or relatives to take up the course they do not want on the first place. Hence, they rebel by creating an impression that they do not fit the course, by failing their subjects. If this is your case, then doing so will only waste your time. As a student, you have two options. Either you talk to your parents, follow your calling and change your course or start loving the course they want for you. Who knows? It might be the calling you ignored for quite a while.

· Having a wrong priority…

             As a college student, we experience new things- get into relationships, be caught in the insistence of peers while meeting the demands of the academe.  We sometimes get confused when we try to weigh things and realize that some things, which were wrong by nature, feel so good and seem so right. Hence, we make wrong priorities and neglect our studies. Nevertheless, doing well in college requires proper judgment and sound decision since not everything which seems right would yield the outcome we intend.

· Having too many commitments…

            One good thing about enrolling in a good university is the influx of opportunities- opportunity to join organizations, meet new people, form new habits and experience new things. These opportunities are overwhelming and entail a good time management to cater them all. However, as students, the main reason why our parents sent us to school needs to be prioritized. Since the reason why these opportunities are called extra-curricular activities is that they are not originally part of the curriculum and are just added services to make the students’ development more holistic.

· Skipping classes and being late…

            It might be very tempting not to attend a subject or two and have some time for yourself especially if there are no scheduled quizzes for the day. Spending time window shopping at the mall or playing DOTA at the internet café may sound better than attending a boring discussion throughout the afternoon, right? Think again! Because some experienced instructors have mastered the psychology of college students. Some of these instructors give quizzes in times when they are least expected.  If you skipped their classes, then you will surely miss those simple surprise quizzes which you can surely ace, if only you were there to take them.

· Hopeless Cynicism…

            Students fail not because they cannot but because they would not and they would not because they think they cannot.  They feel inferior about themselves because they think that their inadequacies are beyond their control. Doubt is what consumes them and they rely on luck to bring them success. However, in a dynamic society where being doubtful is a setback to ones success, optimism is need to make us bold. Hence, we dare because we think positively. And only then will we achieve something. After all, you will never know what you can do and how far you can go if you let yourself hindered by your pessimism.

· Feeling bored all the time…

            You cannot study because you are bored. You do not attend classes because you are bored. You do not finish your homework because you are bored.   Hasn’t it occurred to you that you are just burned out?  You feel that everything you do makes no sense. You come home tired yet you feel unproductive. And this happens if you spend so much time on things which will not bring you any closer to your goal. Or if not, you feel tired because you lose the sense of direction. Either way, reorienting yourself back to reality and meditating will surely help you realign your actions with your goals.

***

*Subject for editing*
*Not yet Published*

Plagiarism: A crime taken for Granted

Click. Copy. Paste. Print. Submit. That’s so easy! Right? Most students find it very convenient to grab some ideas or even phrases from the internet without putting into consideration the ethical and legal considerations they violate. The bunch of information the World Wide Web has to offer plus its copy-paste features seems to be the quick-fix and the easy way out of all the dilemmas in beating the academic deadlines. But then, is copying-and-pasting really that simple?

Intellectual Felony

                        Although there is no existing law that is directly pointed against plagiarism, but the mere act of phrasing published ideas without crediting the author is already a violation against their intellectual property rights. According to RA 8293, otherwise known as “The Intellectual Property code of the Philippines”, copyrighted materials include collections of literary, scholarly or artistic works, and compilations of data and other materials which are original in the coordination or arrangement of their contents. Moreover, the authors of these printed and published materials have the sole right to give people the authority to recopy, reproduce, translate and dramatize these materials. Needless to say, infringement of copyrights includes massive photocopying books, reproducing of movies and other media, personification of literary works and selling any part of a copyright property without any written authority from the copyright owner. However, Part IV- Chapter VIII of the said provision states that there are also limitations to the scope  of this code which allows people to reproduce a substantial portion of copyrighted works and cite quotations as long as  these materials are already made available to the public and as long as the copyright owner is recognized and cited.

                        In the academic context, massive reproduction of books by photocopying them is already a violation against the publishers. Although it was provided in section 184 of the said code that reproduction of published works in a single copy by a natural person is allowed, doing so is exclusively for the purpose of research and private study. And if ever such reproduction or citation of quotation is to be published in researches, case studies, thesis and dissertations, citing the references is necessary to protect the student from any legal and academic sanctions.

Dismissed Plunder

                        Although the internet discloses some information to make facts and ideas available to everybody, there are still limitations and legal considerations where both students and professionals are bound to. Since the literature and facts presented in the internet and books are written or intellectually owned by authors, recognizing them by citing their names, publications or links as references is the least thing we can do after borrowing their ideas. Not doing so is the same as not recognizing them as intellectual owners and claiming their ideas as our own.   In research papers and case studies for example, as simple as using facts from wikipedia to define our topic without recognizing the author(s) is already a simple form of plagiarism. Blatantly citing phrases which are not our own and using them to comply the academic demands is the same as stealing our seatmate’s homework, writing our name on it and submitting the homework as our own.  Hence, in Capitol University, the student manual in Chapter 4, section 2.4 indicates the violations of those students (both undergrad and post-grad) who commit plagiarism. Although copyright infringement and plagiarism is a grave intellectual crime, the academic punishment only includes failing the student(s) in that particular subject or homework.  In research subjects, instructors are even bound to give a failing mark to students who stole ideas from the internet or books without giving due recognition to the author/publisher.

Setting Limits

                        Like any form of human rights, the right to use published materials as resources has limitations and responsibilities to avoid violating others. Though it is a part of learning process for the students to do researches and utilize published works as resources, being extra careful with the kind and amount of information used needs to be considered since avoiding copyright infringement is not only exclusive to citing the author’s name. Infringing copyrights also includes the amount of information/phrase utilized and the manner to which it is used. The Intellectual property code emphasizes that utilizing portions of published works should give justice to its original meaning. Hence, these phrases are not to be used randomly as they should appropriately fit the article or studies to which these excerpts are to be applied. 

Lesson not learned

Some students who are tasked to write an essay as a homework are tempted to open the internet, search, click, copy and paste phrases instead of actually constructing them. And sometimes, the students who are tempted to do so are those who were not able to complete their assignments on time because of procrastination. They are racing against the clock in beating the deadlines and are just forced to take the easy way by stealing the works of others made available in the internet.  Or worst, they prefer to copy the whole paragraph just because they are too lazy to think or do it by themselves. Sometimes, these students just assume that they will never be caught. However, there is an easy way to track down these intellectual felons. Using the search engines, instructors can type the exact words or phrase in the search bar. After pressing the search button, the link containing the webpage where the phrase was copied from will display on top of the list. And the offender is caught. 

Some say they just forgot. While some people claim that they are unaware of such criminal offense. But at the end of the day, ignorance is not an excuse. After all, proper citation of intellectual sources has been taught and incorporated in the elementary and high school curriculum for students to internalize the value of giving due credits to the authors. Nevertheless, self discipline and respect for others needs to be applied every time one excerpts ideas and phrases especially if used in scholarly publications such as researches and case studies. 

***To be edited***
*NOT YET PUBLISHED*

*ONGOING *