It's already November and school is picking up its momentum. Essays, readings, projects, exams, and other assignments are piling up like the leaves outside your window. While you are doing well in one class, you may find that you are falling behind in another. You wished you had managed your time better to perform well in all your classes, but now it is just too late. You have no other choice but to go to class unprepared. Either that, or you skip class. Skipping class, however, would only make you fall further behind, and hence, you decide to fake it till you make it.

1. You are super punctual.

You get to class about 30 minutes early to start your reading even though you know you won’t finish. While you feel unprepared and nervous, people around you happen to think you are a very dedicated student who comes to class early…HA.

In reality, though, this is how you feel:

2. When the teacher discusses the reading, you keep your head down and start taking frantic notes.

You do this partly because you don't want to make eye contact and partly because you know you need the notes since you didn't read.

3. When the teacher asks a question that pertains to the reading, you sit there and pray that he/she doesn't call on you:

It doesn't help that no one else in the class answers the question, either, thereby stretching the awkward moment of silence--and the consequent increase of your heart rate.

4. If, God forbid, the teacher calls your name, you keep calm and play it cool.

Dumbfounded, you feel like saying this:

Although you know you could come up with a much better answer in a world where time-management is your strength, rather than your weakness, you feel relieved that the teacher accepts your answer and continues with the class discussion, probing other students for answers.

5. By the time you feel more comfortable in class and your heart rate relaxes, class is over!

The two-hour-long feeling of inadequacy mingled with regret is over as quickly as it began!

6. Although you were able to survive and learn in class without doing the reading, you promise yourself that you won't do it again.

The crappy feeling of not feeling prepared is too much to bear. You know you can do so much better if you do the assigned reading. Not only will you contribute to the class discussion, but you will also FEEL infinitely better. To gain a deeper understanding of the concept, you have to couple the reading with the enriched class discussion, both of which require your effort and attention. You can't have one without the other, since they are interlinked, and thus you plan accordingly and make sure you do your readings on time.

7. Learning from your mistakes, you show up to class bright and confident, eager and ready to participate: