Personalities Under Pressure

     The past week has seen a noticeable change on campus.  Everyone suddenly seems super busy writing papers, preparing for exams, and finishing up assignments.  It's crunch time.  You may hate it or you may love it, but you do have to go through it.
     People respond to pressure in different ways.  It's interesting to see how people change when they are stressed.  As a service to the CMU community and the world at large, I have compiled this Personalities Under Pressure (PUP) list.

The PUP List
1. Super-Big-Joke types.  These types of people see life as one big joke once they get past mid-November.  They are often seen hanging out in lounges, but not usually studying.  Rather, they are asking people to go on walks, or watch movies.  They usually have to haggle, but since these types of people are usually very persuasive, they get their way and procrastination ensues.  

Obviously a type 1.

2. The Facebook Junkie.  These people respond to the pressure of assignments by going on Facebook.  Or rather, living on Facebook.  Since they feel the need to get work done, they don't hang out with others much.  They go to their rooms, and usually get as far as the next sentence in that paper before going online and posting something like "3/1500 wds here i go" and "i just want to go home" and "what is IDS?".  Often within the first half hour.


3. Hide-and-Work.  These types of people will hang out and have fun, but will then take an extra large coffee and a big stack of books and go to South Campus and hide in the study room downstairs, where they will attempt to get work done.  And possibly attack anyone who bothers them. note: a type 3 is often also a type 1.  

Ahh..peace and quiet. No people. No internet access.  Just you and 5634 words.  

4. Balance? What balance?  These people will go all the way.  And by that I mean, they will save those two ten page essays with the back-to-back deadlines until forty-eight hours before.  Then they will proceed to work.  Starting at 9pm, they will work until 8am, take an hour nap, and then work for 9 hours more, have another coffee, and then proceed to continue working until it's all over.  Don't knock it - the job gets done.  The conversations with said people after all this tend to be rather humorous as well.  (This was me in first year.)


5. The Bragger. Every so often, you will get someone who worked really hard all semester and now has very little work to do.  They wander the halls aimlessly, with no one to hang out with, since everyone else is working.  To help console themselves, they may start bugging others, bragging about their achievements.  Enough said.


6. Angry.  This one's fun.  These types of people will either stop talking and just start growling more often, or talk more often about other people, or "The Institution" and how they want to leave.  They will complain about this or that prof, this and that "stupid" assignment, and so forth.  If you don't sympathize, they might then get annoyed with you.  Isn't drama exciting?


So there you have it.  Thankfully, this pressure will last only for a few weeks more, and then we can all cool off next to Christmas trees and hot apple cider.  Until then all best in attempting to keep your sanity (rolling around in the snow helps).