The Academic Success Centre partnered with many different departments on campus to hold this semester’s Long Night Against Procrastination (LNAP), which had a myriad of free food and support stations to help students both focus on their school work and remain calm through it all.
UFV’s LNAP aims to help students start all of the projects and papers whose due dates are right around the corner, and gives them the tools to do so, along with a few fun distractions. UFV’s sixth LNAP event took place on the Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Hope campuses on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Just under 400 students came to the semi-annual event, with about 110 in Chilliwack, 12 in Hope, and the rest in Abbotsford.
Sandra Smith, the coordinator at the Academic Success Centre and organizer of the event, explained that LNAP originated at a university in Europe around 10 years ago, and has since become a popular event for many North American post-secondary institutions.
“The idea behind [LNAP] is to give students an opportunity, reason, and excuse to get started on stuff they have been putting off,” said Smith. “It comes at a critical time of the semester when people are feeling stressed out and remember how little time there is left to finish projects.”
UFV’s LNAP is planned with this time frame in mind. Holding the event a month before exams ensures that students have enough time to fit it into their schedules, but also feel the impending doom that will soon be upon them.
“The event is to bring together services, fun activities, caffeine, therapy dogs, and everything we can think of to attract students to come and give them support,” said Smith. “It is to introduce students to resources and services that they might not have known about or maybe haven’t had an opportunity in their busy semester to take advantage of yet.”
The event, although planned and organized primarily by the Academic Success Centre, is a collaboration between many departments on campus.
The office of the provost and vice-president academic sponsored a prize of free tuition for one three-credit course, worth almost $500. To enter to win the grand prize, students needed to collect a minimum of eight stamps on a bingo-like card of all the different stations set up at the event.
There were many stations whose purpose was simply to unwind, such as Campus Recreation’s “root beer pong” table, the Peer Resource and Leadership Centre’s “de-stress room” with puzzles and adult colouring books, Student Life’s “selfie station” with fun props to pose with, and the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs. Other stations were there to help students actually get some work done, such as the Academic Success Centre’s peer tutors, who were busy tutoring students up until midnight; the Citation Station, who advised students on how to correctly cite in both APA and MLA style; and the Math and Stats Centre, who helped students with difficult assignments. The event could not have happened without the library, who agreed to stay open two hours later than their normal closing time to give students a designated place to study.
There were also several information tables to help connect students to more on-campus resources, such as counselling services, academic advisors, the French Club, Sexualized Violence Prevention, and the Circle K International Club.
A major draw of the event for students was the vast array of free food available throughout the night. A table beside the event’s registration station was filled with coffee, fruits, vegetables, cookies, and brownies, and close to midnight, stacks of pizza arrived for students to feast on.
A highlight for Smith was the open mic event, held on a makeshift stage outside of Tim Hortons, for students to showcase their talents speaking, singing, or playing an instrument.
“The evening kind of ends with Bhangra dancing, and the music just gets loud, the dancing is amazing, and the crowds that are around just get so exciting … I was a little worried the first time we did it because we were going for a coffee-house vibe and I told Tim Hortons that, and it was not a coffee-house vibe, but they were thrilled with it,” said Smith.
Missed the event, but still need help with citation on that research paper, or tutoring with your math homework? You can always book an appointment with a peer tutor from the Academic Success Centre through their website, or drop in to get help with a quick question.
Save the date for next semester’s LNAP, which will take place March 4, 2020.
Image: Andrea Sadowski/The Cascade
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.
