STAYING TRUE TO YOUR VALUES, EVEN WHEN IT'S HARD

First, Dr. Kelly and I want you to know that we understand you are all – we are all – stressed out about what is going on with the quarantine. It’s a lot for students, families, instructors, and staff to take on, absorb, and deal with. We are right there with you, experiencing the same uncertainty, worry, and, sometimes, fear. It’s not easy to also be doing homework and trying to move forward in classes. We get it.

We also know that trying to do your schoolwork without having the friends in your class to talk to, maybe not feeling like you can get as much feedback as  you want from your instructor, or not asking questions as frequently as you want to might be adding to your stress. It might be tempting during this time to be a little…lax in your homework integrity. But please don’t be.

You may just want to hurry and finish your assignments so that you can relax the way that some of your friends are. You might be having trouble focusing because of, well, everything. The assignment may be difficult and you’re not sure how to get help. Whatever is causing you difficulties, copying and pasting from the internet, plagiarizing material, or copying a friend’s homework is not the answer now, any more than it was the answer before we were all forced to work from home.

So what can you do? Here are some suggestions:

• If you are doing research, rewrite quotes or paraphrase the material as you note it; it is much harder to accidentally copy something word for word this way (yes, you still have to cite the author).
• When answering a question or prompt in free-response fashion, close all the other tabs on your computer. Or better yet, disconnect from the internet. This helps keep the temptation at bay.
• Ask a friend to talk you through how they solved a problem or wrote a program – but do not copy down what they did. Make sure you understand the answer and write it down from your understanding of the solution.
• Read some of the earlier tips on organizing your time and your homework so you are in the best position to finish work in a timely manner. When you are less rushed you are less likely to take shortcuts.
• Use the help session! Tutors and graders are still available online for assistance; read the weekly email for directions and contact information.·         
• Your teachers are there to help you; all of them are willing to email and text with you, or talk on the phone if you need additional support. They are a great resource.·        
• Remember, it should be about the learning, not about the grade. Especially right now, we want you to be focused on continuing to feed your brain information so that you are intellectually stimulated. Getting the grade without learning is the opposite direction of where we want to go.

Over the course of this year, you have all proven that you are highly intelligent individuals capable of producing great answers and essays. Your own work. We are confident that you still have this capability, so we are asking you to continue to submit assignments that showcase your efforts, not someone else’s.

You’ve got this, we know you do. At the end of this year, maybe more than any other since this program began almost 40 years ago, you’re all going to be able to throw your hands up in the air and say “We did it! We didn’t quit! We didn’t surrender! We have conquered the challenge that is ATYP – and we did it in a way that makes us proud!” You just have to believe in yourselves the same way that we do.

Until next time,

Ms. Nan