The eNotes Blog Grunt Science of War, Medicine, and the Humans in the Middle of ItAll

Grunt Science of War, Medicine, and the Humans in the Middle of ItAll Mary Roachs Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War gives readers a glimpse into the stunning world of military science and medicine. Roach sets the stage with an anecdote about an artillery-grade gun that shoots frozen chickens- aptly named the chicken gun- at aircraft to test if windshields can withstand colliding with birds of flight. She explores how these chicken guns as well as flame-retardant and water-resistant fabrics, zipper-free vests (for snipers, so as not to give away their position), and other military fashions are trying to improve the lives of soldiers while reducing injury and death. Heroism doesnt always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. Sometimes a chicken can save a mans life. For military science, however,  death  is a key component for advancements. Not surprising, this means life and death  is a central  theme in  Grunt. Readers learn about human cadavers getting detonated in test explosions, as the subject of comprehensive autopsies, and for providing vital transplant organs. Roach specifically highlights the transplant of male genitalia, paving the way for fascinating legal  discussions such as  does any remaining quantity of donor sperm belong to the donors family? And, if said donor was a soldier, would any resulting offspring be a military beneficiary of things like pensions? Roach, who has described herself as a goober with a flashlight, stumbling into corners and crannies, is an exceptionally clever, congenial writer going into those dark corners where many other writers wont. Other noteworthy works of hers include  Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, a book about eating, digestion, and- because why not?- elimination,  and  Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers,  exploring the lives of post-mortem bodies.  Michelle Dean at  The Guardian writes that while Roach isnt necessarily an investigative journalist, she still has specialized in tackling the uncomfortable, and at the heart of her every book is her desire to explore the places from which we recoil. In Grunt, Roach gives us a glimpse at several of those uncomfortable topics most unsuitable for the faint of hearts dinner table, such as the aforementioned penis transplants. (This is wholly dependent on your typical table conversations, of course.) She explores other grotesque aspects of military science and medicine: how a urethra can be  constructed from cheek skin, the best kind of underwear to not fuse to your flesh if wounded (silk, interestingly enough), and the maggot treatment- introducing blowfly larvae into a wound for the purpose of debridement. Dont worry. Theres plenty of diarrhea-talk, too. the Navy researcher who comes up with a way to speed the recovery time from travelers’ diarrhea. These things matter when it’s 115 degrees and you’re trying to keep your troops from dehydrating to the point of collapse. There’s no glory in the work. No one wins a medal. And maybe someone should.† Readers will never see their nation’s soldiers in the same way again after taking this tour of stunning (and sometimes sickly) military science and the less-than-talked-about soldier  plights after reading this book.Read the summary of Grunt  with characters, quotes, and  themes.  Were also giving away a copy signed by Mary Roach to one lucky reader: entries are open to U.S. and Canada residents and are  accepted until July 13, 2017, at 9:00 p.m. PST! *Cover image by Benjamin Faust via Unsplash.com.

Change Management and Oxfam Scandal for Work-

Established by the Oxfam family, Oxfam International is one of the most reputed charitable organizations in United Kingdom (Oxfam International | The power of people against poverty). However, February 2018 turned out to be the black letter day for the organization. There was massive media furore against Oxfam aid workers who were found to be guilty of using sex workers during their fieldwork in Haiti. The former director of Operations, Roland Van Hauwermeiren was reported to have sex workers in his villa that was rented for the purpose of charity. The chief executive officer of Oxfam, Mark Golring extended his apology and condemned the depraved behaviour of his employees. The President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise was extremely critical of the incident and it termed it as gross violation of human dignity. This paper examines the Oxfam sex scandal and contextualizes it within the broader discourse of humanitarian work. It uses the framework of ADKAR change management to recommend changes concludes my views on the impact of the proposed changes. The Reports of 2011 against the infamous Oxfam sex scandal might be appalling ad repulsive for people all over but it is rooted in the broader context of the discourse of humanitarian work that has swept across the world. The charitable organizations and aid workers manifest white man’s’ burden in performance of their duties. The white colonial mentality of the white man being a savior of the distressed third-world population is the banal representation of humanitarian work (Easterly). An illustration of this would be the exploitative images of children deployed by these philanthropic organizations in their banners and posters. This further reinforces stereotypes about the nations in the global south and justifies the endeavour of colonial encroachment through humanitarian in these parts of the world. Tropical neurasthasia, identified as a condition emerging from the onerous nature of fieldwork in the humid climate and deprivation from the requisite leisure in life. The refore, it was argued that sex with the native was a respite from the demanding work schedule (Kempadoo). This kind of an understanding embedded in the colonial ideology shifted the burden on the victims and external factors rather than shaming the perpetrators. This underscores on the confluence between masculinity and racial superiority that have informed the contemporary state of humanitarian work. The mainstream representation of the Haiti incident is conflated with problems. The under-age victims were labelled as child prostitutes instead of labelling the white aid workers as sexual offenders for having sex with underage girls. Blaming the women in the countries of Haiti, Chad, Liberia amongst others amounts to a myopic understanding about the magnitude of the issue (Aid charities ordered to improve standards following Oxfam scandal). For women deprived of basic amenities in conflict prone zones, any opportunity to earn their food becomes an imperative. Therefore, this is a tra p for these women and an opportunity to purchase pleasure by the aid workers in the guise of social work. Instead of gaining a deeper insight into the ordeals and lifeworld of these women and not busting the unequal, exploitative network of relationship that is emerging, there is a bird’s eye view of the situation (Haiti suspends Oxfam GB operations). People all over the world are conditioned to believe that these influential organizations are operating on a moral vacuum. The recent media outrage and uproar from the public is more about the money of the British taxpayers going to waste rather than addressing the genuine cause of the victims (Hornstein). Earlier, there has been a spate of sex scandals that emerged in the limelight but those were short-lived, thus highlighting the biased, unfair and vested interests of the civil society and the British citizens. Following the shameful incident, Oxfam has lost 7, 000 donors who have till now provided patronage to the organizations (Elgot and Karen). Golring has been worried about such a consequence and talked about how corporate donors are scrutinizing the incident to make their next decision. A report based on internal investigation compiled on 2011 found that seven employees have left the organization in the light of the scandal. Former country director of Oxfam, Hauwermeiren has resigned following his involvement in the sex abuse scandal and four staff members have been ordered to leave the organization. The internal inquiry unveiled that the witness to the incident have been threatened physically by three men who have been identified as abusers. Oxfam has been used of covering-up the incident. Since the spread of the news, 26 allegations of misconduct reports have emerged, out of which 16 incidents are associated with the international missions. The analysis of the Oxfam incident has led me to adopt the ADKAR model of change management. This model is premised on a bottom-up approach that emphasizes on the individuals behind the change (Artman, Knut and Eric Jonsson). This model is befitting to the concerned situation as it involves all the stakeholders in the organization to be a part of the change through creating awareness among the employees about the motivation to change (Cameron and Mike). This should be done bringing together the different employees in the organizational hierarchy together and discuss with them the ways change will be implemented. In this case, weekly gender sensitization workshops and verbal feedbacks through discussion is a pragmatic step. The second step would be to inspire the members of the organization to remain committed to these proposed changes by continuously making them aware the inhumanness of exploiting the countries they are working. The knowledge step according to the ADKAR model will be utilized in this case by setting up an external committee who would keep a tab on the activities the employees and through an in-house counsellor. The multiple methods of the ADKAR model will enable me to come up different methods to address the issue based on the nature and intensity of the issues (Hayes). Accountability and checks-and-balance approach among the vertical and horizontal organizational hierarchy needs to be ensure with the aim to foster a more egalitarian and just organization. There is a need to protect the whistleblowers so that they feel emboldened to speak out about any misconduct violation within the organization. I would expect the Oxfam family to continuously meet with the employees and not solely depend on the chief executive and other authorities to carry out the task. I would exhort the Oxfam family to have conversations with the different employees to understand their concerns and at the same time to change the centralized authority in the organizational structure. The change would be initiated from April 5, 2018 and would continue for a period of three months followed by the valuation of the proposed change model. The Oxfam scandal has shook the world but such incidents are not new. In fact, these are located in the larger discourse of the white colonial worldview towards the poor, developing nations. They operate with the view that it is justified to engage in such frivolous activities due to their exacting nature of work. However, such an attitude not just spoils the image of accompany but it further tarnishes the image of social work and humanitarian service. This was evident in the loss of patronage and blow on the reputation of Oxfam on a global platform. The recommended changes might not turn out to be successful during its first time implementation. However, the essence of the bottom-approach is an urgent need considering the attitude of the contemporary humanitarian organizations towards their aid-work in the nations of the global south. I strongly feel that an enhanced accountability, checks-and- balance, establishment of an external committee to review the behaviour of the employees and periodic conversations between the different levels of the hierarchy looks promising for ushering in the much-needed change in the framework of social and humanitarian work. Aid charities ordered to improve standards following Oxfam scandal".  the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 1 Apr. 2018. . Available: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/05/aid-charities-ordered-to-improve-standards-following-oxfam-scandal. Artman, Knut, and Eric Jonsson. "Managing Change in the Warehouse. a structured change management methodology when implementing a warehouse management system."Master Thesis in Technology Management  (2014). Cameron, Esther, and Mike Green.  Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015. Easterly, William.  The white man's burden: why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good. Tantor Media, 2017. Elgot, Jessica, and Karen McVeigh. "Oxfam loses 7,000 donors since sexual exploitation scandal".  the Guardian, 2018. Online. Internet. 1 Apr. 2018. . Available: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/20/oxfam-boss-mark-goldring-apologises-over-abuse-of-haiti-quake-victims. Haiti suspends Oxfam GB operations".  BBC News, 2018. Online. Internet. 1 Apr. 2018. . Available: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43163620. Hayes, John.  The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Hornstein, Henry A. "The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity."International Journal of Project Management  33.2 (2015): 291-298. Kempadoo, Kamala. "The modern-day white (wo) man’s burden: Trends in anti-trafficking and anti-slavery campaigns."Journal of Human Trafficking  1.1 (2015): 8-20. "Oxfam International | The power of people against poverty".  Oxfam.org, 2018. Online. Internet. 1 Apr. 2018. . Available: https://www.oxfam.org/en. .com is the leading essay writing service in Australia. We are committed to resolving students' all academic problems and help them acquire higher grades. We provide comprehensive essay paper help to students, who struggle to put up a good quality essay. With 3000+ talented essay writers , we cover 100+ subjects while providing essay writing service to students in Australia. Contact us to premier quality academic assistance at an affordable price. You are required to write a researched argument essay that convinces persuades the reader of your position / stance. This is an academic, researched and referenced do... Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to elaborate the factors which are considered by individuals before selecting an occupation. Choosing an occupati... 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John Hopkins School of Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

John Hopkins School of Medicine - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the John Hopkins School of Medicine, or simply the John Hopkins Hospital, is one of America’s most distinguished healthcare organizations. Located in Baltimore, John Hopkins is both a teaching hospital and a research facility dedicated to biomedical research. The hospital was constructed as part of the will of a philanthropist known as John Hopkins. He was a merchant and a banker, and he left his estate for the development of both a hospital and a university bearing his name. This bequest, left in 1873, was the largest philanthropic gift of its time. The hospital has revolutionized how medicine is practiced in the United States as is often regarded as the founding institution of modern medicine in the country. Other than that, the institution is the birthplace of several medical terms and traditions such as residency, rounds and house staff. The institution has been in the forefront of setting up departments in the fields of ped iatrics, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery and other departments. These departments are nowadays found in all healthcare institutions throughout the country. According to the U.S News & World Report, that ranks hospitals, John Hopkins Hospitals is one of the world best hospitals. The hospital has been ranked as America’s best hospital for 21 consecutive years. This ranking, however, has changed in the last few years after being supplanted by hospitals such as Massachusetts General Hospital.

Gene Patenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gene Patenting - Essay Example Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) with 300 to 500 base gene fragments, represent about only 10 to 30% of the average cDNA. cDNA is a laboratory synthesized DNA that contains only exons in their fragment. These allow the genetic researchers to limit their research to only information containing gene fragments. Patenting of gene fragments has sparked controversy. This is because researchers feel that allowing many patents on gene fragments of same genome adds up to costs to the researcher who is interested in examining the whole genome. The researcher will not only have to pay to each patent holder in order to get an opportunity to study each gene fragment, the researcher will also have to pay the people he has hired to study different patented genes and determine which genes are applicable for his research. Variation in DNA sequences when a single nucleotide in the gene is altered is known as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). For instance, SNP might alter a DNA sequence GATCAATA to GAACAATA. Along the human genome, SNPs occur after every 100 to 1000 bases. They can occur in both coding part of the gene as well as non-coding part of the gene. Normally, SNPs have no affect on function of cells, but researchers believe that some SNPs can make people more likely to contract a disease or affect their response to a drug. Difference in genomic sequences influences how humans respond to different diseases, environmental dangers like that of viruses, bacteria, chemicals and toxins and drug therapies. These variations make SNPs of great importance for making researches in field of biomedical and for developing different pharmaceutical products. Researchers believe that SNPs will help them identify the affects of different genes that contribute towards complicated diseases like diabetes, cancer and mental illness. In conventional ways of hunting genes, association between genes and diseases is difficult to make because an altered gene makes a very small contribution towards the disease. U.K Wellcome Trust philanthropy and ten big pharmaceutical companies in 1999, established a non-profit organization which would find about 300,000 common SNPs. The foundation then planned to patent all the SNPs found so that they could prevent others from patenting the same information. The information on SNPs found by th e consortium is freely available to researchers. Production of human embryos or cloning embryos for use in research is known as 'embryo cloning'. This process clones human embryos in laboratory so that stem cells can be harvested from them and used to study human diseases and development. Stem cells are of great potential to researchers because they can be used to generate any type of specialized cell in the body. Genetically modified organisms and cell lines are patentable material. Patents for cell lines from monkeys and other organisms have already been issued. Thus, based on previous court rulings, embryonic stem cells are patentable. Many controversies have developed regarding the patentability of human embryonic stem cells. The major controversy is that patents for human cell lines and cloning violate the principle of owning human beings. In the US, patents are granted according to a set technical criterion. Ethical issues have not yet influenced this process but it is yet to be seen how stem cell debate change this. Various research groups are patenting

The Character of Lennie in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Essays

The Character of Lennie in Of Mice and Men Have you ever read Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck? If so, you probably remember Lennie, George's companion. Throughout the novel, Lennie and George dream of having their own farm. They work on a ranch to save money for their dream farm. Lennie is a big, strong, man with rounded features. He is at times very forgetful, absent-minded, and one-dimensional. First of all, Lennie is greatly forgetful. In the beginning of the novel, Lennie kept asking George where they were going (Steinbeck 4). One character, Crooks, takes advantage of his forgetfulness. Because Lennie would forget anything Crooks told him, he was relieved he could talk to somebody without worrying about him telling anybody else. He often forgot what George told him not to do, like talk or even look at Curley's wife. Next to being forgetful, Lennie is absent-minded for a good portion of the novel. He is unaware of what he's doing sometimes until he has done it. For example, he enjoyed to pet soft objects. While living in Weed, he was "petting" a woman's dress and the woman started to scream (Steinbeck 11). Lennie didn't know what he was doing wrong. Once Lennie was given a puppy, he accidentally killed it because he was too rough with it. Eventually, he would kill Curley's wife too by breaking her neck when told he could pet her hair. Again, Lennie did not know what he was doing wrong until it was done. Throughout the novel, there is really only one thing on Lennie's mind, tending to the rabbits once he and George had their farm. After Crooks was done telling Lennie his childhood story, Lennie asks a question about rabbits (Steinbeck 70). This is an example of Lennie having only one thing on his mind.

Self-Image and Consumer Behavior

Article Review: Self-Image and Consumer Behavior: How Sacrosanct Self-Beliefs Sway Preferences in the Marketplace Written by: David Dunning In this article, David Dunning questions whether or not beliefs, wants, and needs are the keys to decision making in a consumer’s mind. He believes in a decision making technique called belief harmonization. With this, Dunning means that in order to reach a decision , it may require arranging and revising one’s beliefs, needs, and preferences into a network of cognition that produces little tension among its elements. He states that this allows for two major influences on decision making.The first influence is if people hold a bias to favor one decision over another, then that will alter how they perceive the product. They will solely make a decision on that bias and keep to it. In our book, it explains this with brand equity. The outcome shows that a consumer will decide based on the belief that this brand is better than all of the others and not think twice to purchase. The second influence involves the beliefs that the consumer want to maintain, called sacrosanct beliefs. This is one claiming that the self is a moral, lovable, and capable individual.Dunning states that many decisions in the consumer world are based on this belief of self-image, even when the decision at hand has no relevance to the self. We buy to highlight or hide aspects of our self. Evidence for Decision Making as Belief Harmonization There is much evidence that suggest that judgment and decision making, including consumer behavior decision making, is known to be belief harmonization. Dunning stated that through the 1940s and 1960s, people depended on the consistency theory, balance theory, and the cognitive dissonance theory.However, it has been known that belief and other connections are applied as well. This would be referred to as connectionist modeling or parallel-constraint satisfaction. He gives a certain example of a young woman buying a car and the positive and negative factors based on buying this car. There can be some direct and indirect contradictions in the harmonization process. What people do is revise what they believe in and make connections with the decision. It may lead towards the negative factors or the positive factors in this decision.Dunning states that the best decisions should be based on the beliefs that the person possesses and will be the best indicator for it. Beliefs are equally able to influence and be influenced by other beliefs. The Influence of Decision Outcomes on Perceptions of â€Å"Input† Variables Emerging evidence demonstrates just how easily the causality in decision making can run in reverse. A preliminary opinion leaning toward one conclusion tends to alter how people evaluate evidence in decision making. This also is a part of product choice as well.The Influence of Logically Irrelevant â€Å"Outside Beliefs† Any belief can bias people to initially favor o ne over another. These beliefs are called â€Å"outside† beliefs and tend to be irrelevant when it comes to the decision making process. Dunning talks about how a juror decides on whether or not someone should be sued for posting negative comments on the internet. They looked at both positive and negative sides of the defendant and never based their decision on if the defendant was a nice guy or not. Work in the consumer world has also found similar bias due to outside beliefs.Evidence for Sacrosanct Beliefs about the Self People commonly approach every decision with the belief that their decision takes precedence and that they are honorable individuals. They want their decisions to be positive so that their self-image is positive. In class, we learned about impression management, which means that we work to â€Å"manage† what others think of us. This is a factor in our self-image. Evidence for Positive Self-Beliefs Researchers have showed that people have upbeat self- images, even to an unrealistic degree.Our psychological process that might help leave people with flattering views is a constant engagement in belief harmonization anchored on a self-belief. Research on self-evaluation also shows what type of moves or decisions people make for a positive self-image. This goes in hand with the ideal self portrayal and our concept of what we would like to be. With consumers, they easily adapt to certain products to help us reach our ideal self and have a positive outcome in our beliefs. Evidence for Belief Harmonization with Positive Self-BeliefsBeliefs about the social world are harmonized with flattering self-views. The judgment of people will affirm the positive impression of self. Culture is a big factor in the consumer world, and that is where the beliefs and self-image become intertwined together. In our book, it talks about how in some cultures, women are supposed to foster harmonious relationships and men are supposed to be assertive and have certain skills. These beliefs make the positive self-image in the culture that the male and female are in. Definitions of Social Traits and JudgmentThere are many social traits out in the consumer world today. The article talks about how people tend to emphasize specific attributes and talents that they have and de-emphasize those they do not. These beliefs guide people’s judgments. They align their attribution for success and failure to affirm about the self and the image it portrays. Dunning states that at times a behavior is clearly an underlying trait. People tend to adopt performance standards that place their own competence and character in a good light. Evidence for Belief Harmonization in ChoiceRecent developments in the consumer psychology literature provide strong hints that self-image motives may influence decision making in the marketplace. Here are some points that play an important role by self-image in decision making. * Self-Signaling: this is the notion that people reach their decisions with an eye toward bolstering their self-images is similar to another idea emerging from work in decision making and choice. This is to signal the type of person they are. This explains behavior that remains curious and has been an explanation for people’s behavior.Shafir and Tversky conducted this behavior in the Newcomb problem, where it showed that a participant in the experiment picked an economically inferior option to another option. * Endowment Effects: People place more value on an object once they own in. Handing a coffee mug to a college student causes them to more than double what the mug is really worth. Once products are associated with people, it confirms the positive impressions of that person and becomes valuable for them to have. * Compensation Effects: People buy to compensate for perceived deficits. For example, men buy toupees to make up for hair loss.People buy products to cover their shortcomings for others not to see. * Affi rmation Effects: People express ideas that they are invulnerable to risk. Having self-esteem may prompt people to make choices with less concern. * Licensing Effects: Once people have gained solid evidence that they possess some sacrosanct trait, they act in a way that could potentially violate that they have that trait. This arises in consumer choice many times. Future Questions Dunning focuses on one specific sacrosanct belief, which is that the self is a lovable and capable person.He feels as though there could be other beliefs that exist as well. People possess personal self-esteem but also can possess collective self-esteem. This very much indeed influences people’s decisions and behavior in the marketplace. Also, beliefs that people seek might involve specific ones or rather a more overall general one about the self as a whole. Willer studies on masculinity suggested that people bolster specific self-values. Also, many suggest that people are not as concerned with speci fic self-views as they are worried over a general sense of self-worth. Automatic versus Deliberative Nature of Self-Image MotivesAnother issue would be whether the impact of self-based sacrosanct beliefs is deliberative or automatic in nature. Dunning believes that the impact of self-beliefs might be more automatic in nature. He argues that the term automatic can be the case that the process of affirming favorable self-beliefs is beyond people’s control. Also that is may be the case that this process occurs below people’s awareness; they may lack any insight that their choices are influenced by concerns over the self. However, people’s preferences can impose its influence below a person’s awareness.The Moderating Role of Self-Esteem For sacrosanct beliefs about the self to influence consumer psychology, people must presumably have those sacrosanct beliefs, and people with low self-esteem may not have positive views to maintain. In the consumer realm, one could ask whether low self-esteem people will work as energetically as their high self-esteem peers harmonize consumer decisions with positive views of self. The Moderating Role of Culture/Implications of Marketing As I discussed in this paper earlier, culture is another condition with how consumers make decisions.People in North America and Western Europe work to bolster their self-esteem. In the West, people seem more concerned with individuality and in the East; they focus on the collective self. Self-Image concerns may also carry implications for effective marketing according to Dunning. People tend to state that they are motivated to do good work in their job for reasons like personal growth, whereas other people are more motivated by money. That is how it works with decisions in consumer buying. People are influenced by social status.This article suggests that marketers should be mindful of the motivations that people are likely to cite as prime considerations for their purcha ses. In conclusion, the article is about how consumer behavior is acted and what it is based upon. There are many different factors that the author speaks about in this article. Self-Esteem and Culture are two main pieces of the puzzle when it comes to how consumers react to certain products. In the marketing world, we marketers have to look at these factors and how much insight it will provide us when we are trying to get into the minds of our consumers.Dunning makes very interesting arguments of how we cannot look at the picture as a whole, but yet as different segments of ourselves that all tie together with the decision making process. I thought this was a very interesting article because it shows how experiments and studies were done to prove that these are main factors with consumer behavior. It also showed me how we basically become the product and shine through the product for our own self-image. It could be even with becoming part of a group that reflects your personality, or just for your individual traits themselves.

Do You Know What to Do If You Fail a Test in College

Worried that you failed a test in college? Youre not alone, and fortunately, failing a test in college doesnt necessarily mean youre  going to ruin your GPA. To handle the problem directly, assess the situation, determine what went wrong, and then follow up with your professor to see if any options are available. Failed an Exam in College? Often, when walking out of an exam, youll have a gut feeling of what didnt go well. Immediately sit down and reflect on the experience. First, determine if you understood the material. If you did, then assess your test-taking environment. A noisy room, a temperature that was off, or lack of supplies could impact your scores. Similarly, distractions from your own life or not getting enough sleep or a good breakfast can impact your ability to succeed. On the flip side, if you felt unprepared for the test, break that down. Perhaps you  studied  the wrong material or did not study enough. Be realistic in your assessment and take stock of what you can do better next time.  Ã‚   Whatever your difficulties were, make note of them. You can review these notes yourself and determine if reviewing them with your professor or TA might be useful. If you simply made a mistake and were not prepared or fit for taking the test, learn from the experience and use this situation to help you better prepare for the next exam you have to take.   Assess the Damage Failing a test in college can feel like a major disaster, but consider the impact this one exam has on your overall grade. If the exam is one of several throughout the semester or a year-long course, ask yourself how truly damaging this one grade will be for you. Most professors offer a syllabus that outlines the weight of each assessment within the overall grading structure, which can help you determine what your next steps should be. Take the time to understand why you didnt perform well, so review the notes you took after you left the exam room and see if you can find correlations. If you determine that this one exam can make or break your course grade, then schedule a time to meet with your professor or TA.   If youre not sure if  you failed, or simply feel like you may not have aced it how  you wanted to, simply relax and see what your score actually is before running to your professor. You may have done better than you expected, and you dont want your professor thinking you havent mastered the material before she even reviews it. If you know you completely missed the mark, then its time to talk to your professor. Talk to Your Professor or TA ASAP If youd like to reach out to your professor before you receive your scores, you could  send an email or leave a voicemail asking to speak. Perhaps you didnt feel like you grasped the material as well as you should have, or you feel that you didnt perform well within the given test format, and youd like to talk. This way, if you actually did okay, you arent telling the professor you thought you failed — just that youd like to better master the material or better demonstrate your mastery. And if the test didnt go quite as you had hoped, youve set the stage to perhaps get additional assistance or have a chance to make up the grade. If youre someone who typically understands the material but often doesnt perform well on exams, you should still reach out to your professor or TA. You may wish to make a visit during office hours. Dont be afraid to be honest. You can just start off by saying that you dont think your score is going to reflect your understanding of the material and go from there. Your professor may offer you another option to demonstrate that you do understand what was covered in the exam — or they may not. The professors response is their own choice, but at least youve presented your concerns about your performance on the test itself and asked for assistance. Explain Any Special Circumstances Were you suffering from a horrible head cold you thought you could work through? Did something with your family pop up? Did your computer crash during the exam? What the room too cold for you to properly concentrate? Let your professor or TA know that there were special circumstances, but only if there truly were, and only if you think they really had an effect. You want to present a reason why you did poorly, not an excuse. Repeated instances of special circumstances may reflect poorly on you  as well, so carefully assess if the extenuating circumstance was really an issue that affected your grade. The Bottom Line You cant guarantee that your grade can be changed or that your TA will believe your reasons for doing poorly on the test. Unfortunately, your professor isnt always going to give you another shot. Bad scores happen, and when they do, you need to accept that you didnt perform well and move forward. Be prepared, follow the steps above, and have a game plan for what you will do if you do receive a poor score on the test. This way, you can know what you should do instead of simply panicking. The moral of the story is to make sure that you learn from the experience, and prepare yourself to perform better in the future.