After being bombarded by a cornucopia of turkey, mashed potatoes and pie, the thought of going back to school must seem as appealing as having a root canal while watching Kenny G in concert.

But school goes on. It’s inevitable.

It’s easy around this time of year to just go into auto-pilot and hope the grades you received earlier in the semester will translate into a passing final grade. Oh, in a perfect world?

Four more weeks, that’s it. Four more weeks, and all that studying and attention spent in class could potentially pay off.

Put emphasis on the “potentially.” Seriously, your attention to the syllabus will become more critical.

As the pressure to finish up the semester starts to mount, it becomes more serious to make the time to just get your projects done and study for finals.

It’s a very simple process: Do your work.

There will be no holiday cheer knowing the time you could have devoted to studying and doing your projects was spent procrastinating till the last minute finally churning out something that could have been better put together by a chimpanzee.

Surely, the mentality to devote more time to school work is in the head of every college student. How many times have you heard yourself saying, “Man, I really need to just buckle down and do it”?

We all set off with the best intentions to get down to business and make all those resolutions become reality, and somehow, along the way we make up these reasons why it’s cool to put it off a couple of hours. Then a couple more hours pass by, and whatever.

The point is, you get what you give.

If you’re willing to put in the effort to make this semester the best you can, there is a better chance it will pay off. The idea may seem obvious, but how often does it actually happen?

Remember that feeling you get after the end of the semester when you know you could have done more, but instead of doing the work you knew was expected, you decided to go out with your friends instead? Didn’t feel that good, did it?

It’s like those moments in life when your parents tell you they’re not mad at you, they’re just disappointed.

Keep that feeling close to your heart the next time you’re deciding whether or not you should finish your school work or go out with your friends.

The end of the semester is right around the corner. Four more weeks of school is all that stands between you and a genuinely good winter break. A break without the nagging question of a good report card in the back of your head – one you can actually enjoy.

The State Hornet staff can be reached at [email protected].