by Sharupa A ’20 – The BACC Rag

The BSGE Toy Drive: For the Less Fortunate

The holiday season is a time when students expect to relax with their families and receive gifts, but the children in the HIV/AIDS ward of Elmhurst Children’s Hospital aren’t as lucky as the students in BSGE. Most of them are from low-income families, so their parents can’t afford to get them presents for the holidays.

BSGE’s Helping Hands’ Committee organizes the yearly toy drive to buy gifts for these children. In previous years each advisory has been assigned only one child to raise money for, but this year an advisory can have up to three. In order to meet their goal, the advisories raise money for their children, making sure that they get gifts they want for the winter holidays.

Bake sales have been producing money for the toy drive during every lunch period.Alice Aronov ‘18 explained that they are “the best way to raise money in our school because everyone buys” from them. She continued that they also give “a teamwork kind of initiative.” Ms. Meisler added, “[a] bake sale is always good because everyone can contribute something and everyone feels like they’re doing something for someone else.” Meril Mousoom 21’s advisory was assigned two boys, both in preschool. One wanted a Hot Wheels “Ultimate Garage” and the other a Captain America backpack. Bake sales allowed her advisory to raise $167 dollars and they “…currently have enough money to buy presents for the kids.”

How to Stop Procrastinating Today Instead of Putting it off Until Tomorrow

At some point in their life, every student will have been affected by procrastination. According to the dictionary, procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing a task. In the case of a student, procrastination usually takes the form of avoiding doing homework and other assignments or studying for important tests. Especially for those who are new to the BSGE’s workload, procrastination can become a common trait. Far more than half the students at BSGE admit to being procrastinators at one point or another.

Procrastination occurs in a variety of different ways, and can lead to bad experiences in class along with deteriorating grades. “I end up staying up really late trying to finish what would have been easier without the stress and rush,” said Kayla Powers ’20. Similarly, “I have had to do rushed jobs in advisory, or totally forget the homework and have my grade go down,” said student Dart MacVeagh ’21. These are only some of the consequences students have had because of their procrastination. A general response from those who considered themselves procrastinators said that their progress on their homework and academic performance gradually decreases as they procrastinate.