If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve never given myself a fair opportunity to complete what I need to.
Ever since school became “serious,” I never had a compelling feeling to be on top of my schoolwork all the time. After all, school was rather easy for me.
Now, that’s not something I hold over anyone. I’m incredibly grateful that certain information and my understanding of things just clicked. For a lot of people, schooling isn’t easy and they work their tail off. I envy you.
But perhaps this cushy “school is easy” thought process that I have coasted off of has instilled some rather bad behaviors.
With finals week on the horizon and my final semester at Ferris upcoming, I figured some reflection was in order.
I am a proven procrastinator. That 12-page paper is due at the end of the month? I’ll wait until the last week to start it. An easy 10-point quiz that takes me three minutes? I’m waiting until 11 p.m. when it’s due at midnight.
Ask Jackie Moglia, our opinions editor, too. She knows how much of a procrastinator I am when it comes to these editor’s columns.
I’ve been asked why I do this to myself. I’ve given a variety of responses. “I don’t know” or “I work better under deadlines” have been my most frequented answers.
The more I ask myself why, the more I wonder where it stems from. Perhaps, I’m just lazy. That’s a simple explanation. It would be an honest one at that.
Or, perhaps it’s built into the egotistical portion of my brain. With how my pursuit of education is trouble-free, I’ve proven I can deliver. Maybe I take some weird pride in this, as counterproductive as it sounds.
Either of these options are valid. I think both are plausible. I’d take a shot and say there are more of me out there who do the same things for the same reasons.
The procrastination is already bad enough, no matter how much I make it work. But now I’ve caught the ever-so-common and infamous senioritis.
The push of four years of higher education has left me bone dry. I’ve got one foot out the door and am just fantasizing about being done. I know I’m certainly not the only one, either.
The passion to show up to that one class all the time has completely left me. The stress related to missing an assignment, either purposefully or accidentally, is gone.
Now, I’d never let myself fail too hard. I have standards that not even my procrastination or senioritis could break down.
However, those small things that have been a part of the higher education experience just don’t matter to me anymore. I do not care. You couldn’t make me care. I’m rather mentally checked out. I’ve already popped the champagne.
The big question is how bad is this? How valid am I and those who are like me to be feeling this way?
The existence of procrastination and senioritis isn’t a secret. It’s been felt before and will be felt for generations to come. But how damaging could it be?
Procrastination, coming from a serial procrastinator, depends on whether you still deliver. If you’re not making the deadlines, your goose is cooked. What I do isn’t some big save on procrastination. As I said at the start, I’ve never given myself a great opportunity to get what I need to do done.
As for the senioritis, I don’t know if I can ever blame someone for getting it. An extra four years of schooling following 13 mandatory years is a little rough. A lot of us have spent close to 20 years of our lives learning.
That’s not a bad thing. But are we bound to catch a long-term burnout feeling right before the end of the finishing line? Absolutely. I’m not as motivated as I was to begin years previous. I don’t think I could be if I tried.
The game now is making sure you get across the finish line. Will you sabotage yourself this close to the end? What are you doing? How much money to just blow it at the end? Finish as strong as you can, even if you’re just limping to the finish.
For the seniors in the same boat, it’s almost over. There’s just one more semester. That’s it. Just get it done.