Shameless Brag here: Formerly slacker S wrote a 61-pg paper in college!

Parents Forum
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<p>Many of you have been following my son's progress for years, so you'll understand what this means. </p>

<p>For those who are new to this, S is a junior at a 2nd tier LAC. In high school, he was a high scoring (NM commended) slacker who almost didn't graduate because he had procrastinated so much on writing ordinary papers like lab reports. Ended the year with Cs, Ds, and took a gap year with Americorps and then went to an expensive LAC on his dime (H and I signed for loans) because H and I told S he had to have a year of decent grades before we would invest in his education.</p>

<p>For a required course in theater -- a major he loves -- the one assignment was to write an 80-100 page paper analyzing one script. Understandably, it's the hardest course in that major.</p>

<p>In addition to working up to 14 hours a week, taking 3 other courses, and being on crew for all of the theater productions this semester, S wrote his paper, and got a "B" in it and thinks he passed the course with a "C".</p>

<p>Yay for S! Yay for LACs! Yay for late bloomers!</p>

<p>For the record, I'm a Harvard grad and have a doctorate, and never wrote a paper longer than 20 pages until I wrote my dissertation!</p>

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<p>Wow, that’s great NSM! You must be so proud, relieved and gleeful. (I can tell that you are!)</p>

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<p>Congrats to your S! I just turned in a 57 page paper recently (49 pages of actual text). I’ve been surprised to find some (high quality) PhD dissertations that are only around 60-70 pages of actual text.</p>

<p>But isn’t 61 less “80-100”…? Just wondering, not trying to downplay how long 61 pages is!</p>

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<p>I’m happy if you’re happy. And yes, that he can pull that off … all good and progress. But the assignment bugs me. A general rule of thumb is that each page of script is approximately two minutes of action so a 80-100 page paper is likely longer than the play itself. It seem out-of-line for a class assignment.</p>

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<p>I will never forget turning in my draft for my undergrad capstone project…it was about 80 pages or so and going to pick it up and the prof basically said nice job, now cut it in about half. I kept the longer version, the “shortened” final version is in a box somewhere…I think.</p>

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<p>

When I was in college I’d write 8 pages for 10-12 page papers, and 12 pages for the 15-20 page papers. I was always told I wrote well, and got A’s and B’s on them. No one ever complained they were too short. Most students are way too verbose. I’d spent high school writing “cogent and concise” papers of 3 to 5 pages every week. I did eventually write long undergrad thesis.</p>

<p>But congrats Northstarmom, I know how much this means to you!</p>

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<p>Congratulations!</p>

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<p>Big believer in late bloomers here. In fact, I think the late blooms are the most magnificent blooms very often.</p>

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<p>“Yay for late bloomers” is right, NSM! You have every right to be proud.</p>

<p>(Remember that picture book “Leo the Late Bloomer”?? brings me back to my book fair days . . .)</p>

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<p>Congrats! I too am hoping that my S1 will be a magnificent late bloomer. After dinner, I shall raise a toast to all the late bloomers!</p>

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<p>“But isn’t 61 less “80-100”…? Just wondering, not trying to downplay how long 61 pages is!”</p>

<p>Yes, and that’s probably why he got a “B” on it. It was missing some more character analysis that the professor wanted, and that even I could see was missing. </p>

<p>I just read the paper, and was impressed. S had to describe themes, potential costuming, lighting, set, staging, casting, and the potential audience. He had to consider and analyze the kind of things that a director and executive producer would have to consider when deciding to produce a play. </p>

<p>I just finished a run as a cast member in a play put on at my local community college, and --because the director was open to talking in depth about how he put the play together – for the first time I saw how much has to be done behind the scenes and in the director and producer’s heads to put on a play.</p>

<p>For instance, casting involves more than how well a person can act. How they move, how they look, whether they will bring in an audience also matter even at the local level. These are the kind of things S had to consider in his paper. And he picked a play that is extremely hard to analyze.</p>

<p>S has made lots of progress in his writing and his way of coping with writing assignments. In the past, he’d be so focused on wanting to analyze things perfectly that he wouldn’t get around to writing anything. He’d either sit and think forever or he wouldn’t bother to do anything at all. I used to tell him (as I used to tell my journalism college students with similar perfectionistic traits) that it would be better to write and turn in something mediocre or unfinished than to turn in nothing. </p>

<p>I see that in college, he finally has learned that lesson.</p>

<p>He probably got a “C” for the course, the hardest “C” he has ever earned. He did his best. He didn’t back away from that challenge, and I am so proud that he made it to the finish. I am awed that he accomplished that while also working 14 hours a week, spending hours a week doing unpaid theater tech work, taking 3 other courses, and sometimes even managing to have some other fun! I could learn a lot from how he manages to balance his life.</p>

<p>"Most students are way too verbose. I’d spent high school writing “cogent and concise” papers of 3 to 5 pages every week. "</p>

<p>I agree with this, too. S’s paper lacked fluff. He didn’t use a large font, margins and overly long quotes to pad the paper. He could have used, though, 5 more pages of character analysis.</p>

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<p>Wow, congratulations. You must be so proud of him!</p>

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<p>Congrats to your son!! I think it is great he received a “B” but honestly the real achievement is all the hard work, effort and FOLLOW THROUGH he exhibited in completing such a lengthy and difficult assignment.</p>

<p>He overcame the need for perfection and finished with a FANTASTIC effort. Again congrats to him, I do understand how proud you must be. I know I would feel same.</p>

<p>I am so happy for you, that tough love can get tiring, but when it works and the lessons stick with him then it is all so worth it. What a wonderful man he has become.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

<p>Kat
And I don’t necessarily think of him as a late bloomer, but rather needing time to accept that perfection was not the goal, it is what is learned along the way…</p>

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<p>Yay NSM! There’s hope for my S yet!</p>

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<p>Congrats! I know how proud you are and you should be! :)</p>

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<p>Congratulations, NSM, to your son and to his parents! That is quite an accomplishment. It’s great that he has developed the motivation, persistence, and organizational skills to write such a long and complex paper.</p>

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<p>Wow! S ended up with a B+ for the course. Prof said that he worked hard and did an excellent job with a difficult play, and only the lack of his finishing some sections of his paper caused it not to be one of the best student script analyses she’d ever read. </p>

<p>I think S has come into his own…</p>

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<p>That’s awesome, NSM! Congrats to you and your DS. It’s wonderful that he has found his passion and has the motivation to pursue it. Bless you for your persistence and support to him.</p>

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<p>Northstarmom, as a parent of a late bloomer suspiciously similar to your S, I really appreciate your post. Thanks! (And congrats to your boy!)</p>

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<p>As another parent of a S on his own schedule, I am very happy for you and for your S. I truly appreciate what this means to both of you.</p>

<p>But why on earth would a professor require a 80-100 page paper? I think anything worth saying can be said in 20 pages in an analytical paper, and besides, why would he want to read all those pages from all his students? (Who knows, maybe he loves reading the papers and if so, my hat’s off to him. He’s made of stronger stuff than me!)</p>