The End

I can't believe it's actually the Thursday of Week Nine here at RIT. Besides being stressed out of my mind, everything is going pretty well.

Since this will be my last "update" post for this blog, I wanted to summarize a few things I've learned this quarter while being "textbookless." I also wanted to comment on the factors that I am quite sure will affect my final grades and yet - have nothing to do with textbooks.

Before that though, I have a short story about a quiz I had to take.
Today I was given a quiz in The Congress which required me to read a section of one of the required textbooks. It just so happens that this required textbook was the one I didn't have from the library and have been unable to track down.

Due to feeling like I have a million things to do right now, I decided to just "wing" the quiz. I arrived to class early, begged a classmate to explain what the required reading was about and did my best to make up something reasonable for my answer.

Yes, students really do "make things up" sometimes. Nobody is perfect.

Anyway, I think I did fine. With a rundown from a classmate about the reading and my prior knowledge I was able to come up with a very reasonable answer.

Taking a chance with "The Congress" quiz got me thinking about the luck that I've had this quarter. It's been a tough quarter but I think I've been extremely lucky with the cards I've been dealt - everything has always worked out.

Anyway, here is a list of the Top 5 Things I did learn from being "textbookless:"

1. Go to the library. IT'S RIGHT ON CAMPUS! I seriously can't believe that it took me so long to go to the one at RIT. If for some reason the library is magically out of all the books it houses, you can also always visit your local public library.
2. Make new friends. Seriously! I may be hardcore sucking up to the kids in my classes right now, but they've been super helpful. I have met a lot of new people and have learned from them.
3. Have one of your new friends be Google. There is a wealth of information available on Google. You can actually find pretty much anything. I've been able to track down bits and pieces of the textbooks I was supposed to buy and even a few essays summarizing the textbooks.
4. Take a risk. If you're going to be "textbookless" OR give up anything with any sort of meaning, you have to understand that you're taking a risk. You also have to understand that you will probably get things wrong. As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, I was very nervous that by giving up textbooks I would get bad grades and therefore be imperfect. But I've managed. I've had to work a little harder but my grades have been that much more rewarding. You might fail, but it also might be very worth it.
5. Plan ahead. I've always known the importance of "planning ahead" but being "textbookless" took it to a whole new level. If I waited for the night before a quiz or assignment to try and find a textbook, I was a stressed mess.

There are also three things that I think have worked against me this quarter:

1. It's warm out. In Rochester, this is a big deal. The nice weather is forcing me to have ZERO motivation. Yes, it's only started getting nice in the past week BUT between being miserable with the cold and then overjoyed with the warmth, I can't seem to get comfortable.
2. A slight case of senior-itis. I didn't know this was possible, but I'm here to tell you that it definitely is. A majority of my classes are behind me and now all I want is to officially be done with school. I know, I still have another year so I better get it together. My classes just feel so blah ... I'm sorry professors it's not you ... it's me.
3. It's spring quarter. For some reason I never do "as well" during Spring Quarter. I'm not sure if it's the combination of nice weather, knowing that summer is right around the corner, or laziness but I always tend to have a hard time during spring quarter.

That being said, Textbookless will be wrapping up in a week. I can't believe that I've gone the whole quarter without textbooks and that I don't expect to get lower than a "B" in any of my classes (if my calculations are correct). 

As we roll into Week Ten, I will be wrapping up with one last Money Saving Tip Tuesday and a short video post. I've interviewed some students that are graduating from RIT about their experiences with buying textbooks for the past four years - has it been worth it? Check back to see!