Why attending class is the simplest step toward getting the grade you desire.

I was giving a tour around campus to a class of elementary schoolers last week as a "first exposure to college." Surprisingly it was a real fun tour to give… astronomically better than touring around a grossly disinterested middle school group.

I'm still smirking about the point in the tour when the kids realized attending class wasn't mandatory. You would have thought five UFOs just did a fly-over, Blue Angels style. At that point, their teacher made sure I reiterated why going to class was important.

It never gets old listening to classmates brag about their abysmal attendance record. I still can't think of an "accomplishment" that requires less action than missing ...

How to approach the night before an important test

When I think about how different people approach the night before a big test, I imagine a commercial with multiple big red buttons (like the Staples "EASY" button) on a desk in front of a perspiring student.

Several will hit "PANIC;" other, less anxious souls will hit "GET HELP;" some well-known bookworms might slam "PARTY;" and there's always that one tender-loving student who will hit, "CRY."

Is it just me or do you also get tired of the seemingly endless number of fellow students who gripe and moan in increasing amounts about their "huge test" coming up because after griping and moaning the previous day they didn't do anything about it that night?

I mean, God forbid these people actually ...