Have you ever written a really bad essay?

I’ve definitely been where you are. There’s a pretty dreadful paper on Thomas Reid hiding in my file cabinet that somehow received a passing grade. I don’t even remind people I was in that class on the off chance someone will ask to read it. The worst part is, all I can remember is the second draft. I don’t even want to consider what the first draft must have looked like. There are a few minor assignments that I completely slacked off on as well (and I got called on it a couple of times).

At this point, I’ve come to the conclusion that graduate work is fundamentally about balancing priorities. You will always have more work to do than can be done well, and part of the test is whether you neglect the stuff that can be neglected. I know it’s taboo to actually express this out loud (or in print, as the case may be). We’re all supposed to pretend we put 100% into everything. But that’s a complete lie. None of us can manage that, and the pretense is bad for our mental health.

Thanks man

I’ve never gone to college, so I can’t speak from that level of writing.

However, I still regret one essay from eighth grade of all things. I was twelve.

There was a standardized test called Florida Writes, that all eighth grade students had to pass or they couldn’t go to high school. VERY high pressure from the district, from the school, and from the teachers, on top of the pressure I put on myself.

It was drilled into our heads that we were not to stray from the prompt at all. If we didn’t agree with the prompt, too bad, we had to fake it.

My prompt was “Describe your living hero, and persuade a contest judge to grant you a prize to meet them.”

Seems so simple.

I was raised in a religious household, and I was taught never to look up to “man”. I had no “role models” as such. I froze. I only had 40 minutes to write the essay. What was I going to do? I couldn’t write about why I didn’t have a living hero.

Ended up writing some bullshit about the first name that popped into my head: Mariah Carey. I don’t even like Mariah Carey.

Whatever, I passed. Even got a 3.5 out of 5. Only needed a 2 to pass. Still, I should have killed it. I was a great writer for my age.

That whole situation still pisses me off.

Not since I finished my undergraduate degree. I did a web design course as part of my undergraduate degree. It was advertised as for anyone, but the class was filled with graphic designers. I didn’t stand a chance! It was the only course I only managed a pass in.

Can I ask, what is terrible about the paper you’re writing? What do you think is the main problem? Perhaps we can help by providing some guidance on what to focus on. What is the task you’re trying to complete?