By Lydia Reeves-Timmins, Temple University

Time for the usual bout of February nerves. I’ve had it for more than 20 years. But now, it’s different. Now I’m not worried about sweeps. I have to give my first test!

Just like in the newsroom, I’m about to find out how well I did and if anyone liked what I said. And I even get overnights—that is, depending how quickly I grade them. Yes, I will soon find out if anything I said penetrated the young minds and if they are able to, in a reasonable manner, repeat back the concepts we discussed. On the plus side, if they don’t like it they can’t just turn the channel away from me. They have to finish out the semester!

Deciding how to design the test was as tricky as thinking up any 11 p.m. special I ever did. What was important? What do I think they remembered from the lectures? Did they even read the book? And how do I ask the questions in a way that gets the right answer and not just a bunch of b.s.? I’ve ended up with three sections: multiple choice, true-and-false, and the (dreaded) essay. I hope that covers it!

Meantime, the first component of their research projects was due earlier this week. Two-thirds of the students managed to turn it in on time. So now I have to decide what consequences, if any, befall those who were late. Especially the ones who didn’t even acknowledge they were late! I think college should prepare students for the real world, and they need to learn that assignments have deadlines.

While I realize that not all forms of work have deadlines quite like the ones in a newsroom, every job does have some sort of requirement for assignment completion.  I’ll be mulling that over for the next few days.

Lydia Reeves Timmins is a long-time news professional who is now making the transition into the academic world. She will be contributing to the RTDNA site, writing about her experiences.