Helping someone...what I did

Think of a time when you have helped someone through a tough time. Was it a good friends or someone you just knew? How did you know what to do/what to say? What would you do differently if the same situation came up again?

One of my friends, let’s call her Taylor for privacy’s sake, was just really spent out during the end of one of the earlier semester. We all know what it’s like at the end, when you’re trying to cram in papers and assignments at the last minute while studying for finals, etc. So one day, while we were all working together, Taylor just put down her pen, closed her computer, and said she was done. She was well aware that her grade in one of her classes depended on the presentation on which she was working, but I guess with everything else that was going on at that point, she had just had enough. I certainly did not want her to ruin her grade so I took her powerpoint notes and made a presentation for her. Of course, I didn’t do every bit, but I did enough to give her an outline that organized her thoughts and made it possible for her to do the least amount of work that would help maintain her grade. How did I know that doing her assignment for her would help? Well, it was a little obvious since that was what she was working on. But, sometimes even if it seems like doing someone else’s work for them is going a too far, that’s really all she needed. I was also really assertive and told her that I wasn’t let her throw away her grade. Seeing how keen I was, it just helped her get back her focus and take it from there. If the same situation came up, I would do something similar. I don’t think for one minute that Taylor is lazy or something like that—everybody needs a break now and then and if I can, I’ll give her that break.