Would you give away a semester's worth of notes???

[CiCigirl]

hi everybody! looking for some opinions...

i'm taking a psych class this semester as a pre-req to nursing school. i'm also taking micro. well, one of the girls in my micro class asked me if--when the semester is over--she could have my notes from my psych class.

we're not by any means close. i just met her about (maybe) a month ago. we've studied together a couple of times but we're not great friends who hang out together or anything.

has anybody ever asked you to do this--give them your whole semester's worth of notes once your class is over???

when she first asked me i said, "sure". i figured, "what the h$ll do i care? i can't stand psych and i'll be glad when it's done."

but now i don't know. i'm starting to feel like i might be putting myself in a position of being used. already this person has asked me three times to see my micro class notes so she can write stuff down that she missed b/c she was late or whatever.

and at first i didn't mind, but then i started thinking--hey, get your own notes, or at least ask somebody else once in a while. she has a few friends in class, why always ask me???

am i overreacting and just being stingy:devil: in rethinking giving her my whole semester's worth of psych notes or is her request just over the line?????

sorry it's a bit long, guess i just needed to vent...:trout:

would you give this person your notes? :innerconf

[MIKelly]

I personally wouldn't understand someone else's notes. I say go ahead and copy them for her and see what she can make of them. No big deal.

[GeneralJinjur]

Your explanation makes a lot more sense. I toss my notes right in the trash as soon as my final grade is posted, so I would have no trouble giving them to anyone who asked, even if they were a manipulative creep. (And I've been really surprised at all the people who wouldn't.) Especially for a psych class. You're never going to touch them again, so why would it matter?

Anyway, since she's a jerk and since you obviously do way more to create your notes than I do, I can see why you want to keep them. But I'll bet you a dollar that you never need them again.

[luvmy3kids]

I still don't understand why she isn't capable of taking her own notes??? No one has addressed that yet....

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

hey, thanks so much everybody for all your opinions. they have all been read and greatly appreciated!!!!

what i've finally decided to do is this:

i am not willing to give her my semester's worth of notes. why?

b/c i spend approx 4 hours reading every chapter and hand writing an outline. then i take that outline to class with me and add the teacher's notes to that outline (so i can make sure i have all the important points for the tests).

it's a lot of work and b/c i spend this kind of time on this and my other classes my husband and i have decided that i will not work while i'm taking my nsg pre-reqs to that i can get the best grades. and, as you all can imagine, we take a big finanical hit by me not working.

so with all that in mind, i'm not willing to just give away a semester's worth of work to someone i barely know,who only talks to me when they want something for free. i'm too old to worry about doing things i don't want to do just so "they" will like me, you know?

and as far as the suggestions about doing something nice for someone b/c one day you might need their help--i understand what you mean but last friday i was standing there while this girl told a fellow student that she was making a copy of the cd that came with the book for one of her friends--to help her study.

i was standing right there!!! and she didn't offer to make a copy for me as well. (you're probably saying "well, did you ask? no. i didn't. b/c i'm actually doing pretty well in the class without it.)

her and a few other people in the class know that when the class started, not only could i not afford a copy of the new book at the bookstore (that comes with the cd), but i couldn't even afford a copy of the used book at the bookstore!!! (i had to buy a used copy of the book, make copies of it at my husband's job and return it to the bookstore b/f my first tuition payment was due).

and by her not offering to make a copy of the cd for me, i think she's not someone who'll be there if i needed something anyway.

so, so sorry for the long post, but if you've read this far then, thanks.

btw---if she was friend or family, i would not hesitate to help her out. in fact my sis-in-law is taking nsg pre-reqs too, and i'll make copies of all my notes for her. but somebody who's just a user...

good for you.

[CiCigirl]

i still don't understand why she isn't capable of taking her own notes??? no one has addressed that yet....

you're absolutely right, luvmy3...she could get her grade the old fashioned way...she could earn it. :trout:

i personally wouldn't want anybody else's notes. sometimes people make mistakes in taking notes and i'd much rather show up to class and do my own listening and writing than relying on what someone else had written.

i've even found that when i google a body part of structure for diagrams or pics that you can't always trust what comes up on the internet either. (no duh, right?) but sometimes people label muscles, bones or body structures wrong there as well.

anyway, i'm not giving her the notes, and i don't even feel bad about it anymore. all it means is that she'll have to start from scratch on day one of the psych class along with every---other---student---in---the---room.

sounds fair to me......:smiletea2:

[Sheri257]

If I felt that people were trying to take advantage of the situation, then I didn't give them my notes.

On the other hand, we greatly benefitted from previous classes that gave us their notes. Not because it saved us any work because I agree that other people's notes can contain a lot of errors but ...

The teachers would inevitably mention important things to the previous classes that they'd forget to tell us all together and ...

Lo' and behold ... those little tidbits would show up on the tests more often than not. Too many times the ONLY way we could get ALL of the material we needed to study was to get the previous classes' notes in addition to taking our own notes.

So ... because of the previous classes' generosity ... I also was pretty generous with notes because I was grateful ... and I thought it was good karma.

[roxxy3773, RN, APRN]

I don't think of sharing notes as an invitation to not write your own. If someone gave me their notes I would still take my own notes, and compare both of ours when I was studying for the exam, that way I could see if I missed anything. I would never rely only one someone else's notes, I work too hard to get good grades. So I am not thinking it as an easy way out of doing the work, I think of it as an additional tool to prepare, along with my own notes. This is how I would use them anyway, and probably why I don't have so much of a problem with sharing notes.

[smk1, LPN]

You might want to look at those notes one day so let her copy them (if you feel comfortable with that) at her own expense and give them back to you. If I know the person well, then I don't care if they want to borrow my notes...as long as it isn't an inconvenience to me. Don't be a doormat though. If it is bothering you then speak up or it will never end.

[lc3]

I had sort of the same situation, this girl asked to see my ANP essays. Her and I took the same ANP class and she ended up having to retake it. I got A's on my essays and she wanted to see them so she could "compare" but I know she just wanted to copy parts of my essays to use for her own. Nonetheless, I didnt give it to her b/c it was my hardwork but I did help her with her essays instead because she didnt get the jist of the assignments and how to write a formal papers.

So, IMHO I wouldnt give her the notes because I more about helping the person and not enabling the person to not go to class. I know in this situation you cant really "help" her. Plus, I think its kind of tacky for her to ask for the whole semester's worth of notes.

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

I think copies would be ok.....(At her expense...). I would not give copies of papers dt plagiarism concerns but notes always. we are all in this together. (Remember she might end up being a lab partner of yours down the road...)

[luvmy3kids]

I guess what I mean by my question is does she have some sort of "valid" reason why she isn't able to take her own notes... broken wrist, some sort of handicap etc.... Will she be missing a week of class due to a vacation or whatever...

If she wants your notes and is going to still take her own and then compare... that would be ok (I guess)... but if she just wants to sit in the class and not do anything and then use your notes as a crutch.... I don't think that is fair.

I was just wondering why she can't take her own notes.... I haven't seen a good reason for it yet... so my answer would be no...

I think you've already made that choice though... so good for you! Take care...

Jennifer

[akspudus]

I love this thread. Good points. There are definitely some parasites out there that will try and cheapen any grade they "earn".

Getting into nursing school is hard work and very competitive. I have actually heard people say that they don't like to help fellow classmates....just to reduce competition.

I have NO problem helping anybody out in any class I take, as long as they are working on it themselves. If someone hadn't bothered to take notes during a lecture, and found themselves in a pinch....well I'm probably not going to be too helpful. But, if someone is busting their hump and still needing a little help...then I am there for them. Sharing notes and all.

I am sure most of you can look around in your classes and identify those people that have the work ethic to get them through nursing school...and those that don't.

Anyhow.....just my two cents.

Akspudus