So why does this happen? Quite simply, it's because I am a bad student, and I do not really care so much about the demonstration component of school.

Don't get me wrong: I really do enjoy college, as I did enjoy high school. I love learning, and I enjoy reading and hearing new things. I enjoy the thrill of proving a difficult theorem, and I appreciate dissecting a sophisticated philosophical point.

What I don't like, though, is trying to compile everything I have learned into a paper that meets a three-page long list of picayune objectives. I don't like memorizing things for an exam. I really don't like having to put down a good book, or stop focusing on things I find interesting, just because I have some assignment that I "should" be doing.

Really, then, what I don't like about school is the obligation. The last couple semesters, this has resulted in me falling behind midway through the term because I can't bring myself to actually do the necessary work.

I think this stems, in part, from how I was raised. I was home-schooled from preschool through fifth grade. Starting in a Department-of-Defense middle school in Germany, public school was a new experience - one that I wasn't especially fond of after a while, but one that was easy enough because there was plenty of time during school to finish your work, if you were clever at least.

However, I still was used to - and still am in the habit of - studying, reading and generally learning about whatever suited my interest at the present moment. Why not, after all, learn about what has your eye at the moment, when you're most apt to pick up more subtle details and learn more per unit of effort?

Answer: Because when you're in school, you are following a curriculum and earning a grade; learning is merely tangential to the process.

So, in the end, I think that is what is burning me out most about school. It's not about getting up every day, trying to learn as much about what interests you the most; it's about following a curriculum through, reading textbooks and learning to do things regardless of your interest level.

Which, of course, isn't a bad thing per se. It's important, after all, to have a solid grounding in a lot of subjects, even things that are not especially interesting, because they allow you a firmer grasp of more general ideas. Knowing a little about psychology, for instance, comes in handy occasionally in philosophy.

It just is taxing to me, as it is to most people approaching that third, fourth, fifth or 10th year of an academic program. You feel like you have jumped through enough hoops already, and you're starting to count the number left before graduation.

I do feel it's important to point out, though, that there is more to getting burned out than that. At least there is in my case.

I know that if I slept a regular amount every night at the same time, if I ate a more balanced diet, if I exercised daily, if I prioritized my time more efficiently, etc., I would feel less burned out.

Nevertheless, I feel like the same thing would have happened this semester, as it happened last semester and the semester before that. Hopefully, though, things will work out, and my professors will be somewhat sympathetic.

If not, then there's not a lot I can do about it. Life goes on, and stress passes, only to be replaced by new worries in a few weeks. There are bigger problems in the world than getting a bad grade.

Perhaps that attitude isn't the best one to have shortly after midterms. But, what are you going to do? That's how it is, at least right now.

* * * * *

I wanted to take a moment to apologize to President/Regent Alexander Williams for misattributing something in my column last week that Vice President Mike White said. White, not Williams, said, "If we don't get to this tonight, it's out of the window. Maybe we are breaking the rules, but does that really matter?"

Williams has, in my opinion, said a lot - and I would emphasis a lot - of ignorant things regarding student government. Those words, however, were not among them. I'm sorry for that mistake.