Procrastination

It's so easy to not do your homework. You are swamped with homework, and have over 200 pages of reading. Doing all of this is hard sometimes, it would be so much easier to not do it. It happens to all of us. When a paper comes around you say "ill just do it tomorrow." Then tomorrow turns into the last day and now you are up till 4am trying to finish it. Why do we do this to ourselves? I used to do it all of the time, and I'm trying to make a change now. You put so much more work on yourself, and make the work so much harder than it really has to be. Why not start a little earlier in the week? Why not just start studying a week before instead of cramming. We are not productive when we do this. Just a few weeks ago I had a paper and I didnt start it until the night before it was due. I dont know why I did that to myself. I just kept saying I'll do it tomorrow until there wasnt another tomorrow. I was stuck and I had to stay up till 3:30am trying to write the paper, and then woke up the next day and had to finish it. It's stupid to do this. If you worked a little bit everyday there would be no issues. You can still do what you want to do, as well as get your work out the way. As my next couple of papers come up next month I am going to make sure I will start my paper at least a week early so when the last day to work on the paper comes around I can just focus on editing. Starting early also puts you in a position to see your TA, which will give advice to make your paper even better.

I'm Tired

I'm tired. I'm tired of waking up and going to class. I'm tired of doing work and studying for test, and I'm tired of going to practice. Sometimes you're just like "I hate school." You go to school for four years, just to go Back to school since people are not getting jobs. Sometimes it's like why bother? I know people with law degrees that cannot find a job, what will be different for me? Unemployment is still high, and nobody is giving out jobs unless you have a Master's or more. Yeah getting a high degree would be amazing, but who has the money to go to grad school? The system is just messed up to me that's all. I would never drop out, that would be foolish, but it is nice to envision a world without going to classes though. To just be able to do what you want, and when you want, but then you definitely would never get a job. I know many people have felt the same way I have, but the key is to persevere. Just keep going. You will be so much better off in the long run. I know people that actually dropped out of college and their lives are not ideal whatsoever. I especially feel bad for their parents who took all their time and effort to send their children to great high schools and great colleges just for them to drop out. Unless you are going to be drafted into the NBA and guaranteed 50 million, there is no excuse. You diminish your chances of success exponentially all because you didn't feel like doing your homework? Homework isn't that bad if it's going to get me a great job later in life. I guess what I am trying to say is don't live in the here and now all the time. You have to look into the future, and see what kind of life you want for you and your family. I know it can be easy to get caught up in what is happening today, but if you put it in perspective, what is bothering you now probably isn't even that important. It's hard to not be tunnel visioned, it happens to all of us. We just need to focus on looking at the big picture, and to not make decisions that can truly affect what happens later on. You go to a great school, and we are all going to have successful careers at whatever we decide to do. Just keep pushing, because the finish line is already in sight.

Office Hours

I saw no point in going to office hours, nor did I have the energy to go. I went once and it was terrible. There were at least twenty other individuals waiting to get the professor's attention, and I was getting extremely irritated. Most seemed like they were just trying to impress the professor instead of actually coming to learn something, but this is beside the point. Sometimes I feel that there is no point in going because I think I will do bad on a test anyways, and I hate trying my hardest and still not do well. I cannot think like this. Reading Dweck made me realize I have more of a fixed mindset when it comes to these things. This is no conducive to academic improvement; I need to do everything in my power to do well instead of counting myself out. But this is not the real reason I don't go to office hours. I usually just don't have the time.

Athletics on the college level is a JOB. You have a schedule and you are expected to stick to that schedule. They tell us when to wake up, when we can go to class, and many more things. We don't control ourselves, the coaches pretty much control us. Most semesters I am not able to go to office hours because they will be during times I have track practice, or when Im in another class. We have a certain few times we have to take classes because of afternoon practice. There is just not enough time in the day. Other times I will actually be able to go to office hours but I just wont feel like it. I will just be too tired, and it will be a waste if I cant stay alert and ask intelligent questions about the work. It is already hard enough to do homework after practice, why would I want to go to office hours on top of that?

I am going to try to do better though. I'm going to attempt to go to office hours when I can, regardless of how I feel. My grades are too important to not try. The least I can do is go see my TA's when I have a paper due. My friends told me that they can be extremely helpful and set you up to receive an A on the assignment. Another person told me that one professor pretty much told them what will be on the test and what to study when they went to their office hours. There are obviously some plus sides to going to office hours, and if the teachers are helping you in these ways then I need to start going as well. I wont say I will go once a week, but I will at least try to go to their hours when papers and exams are coming up. Im doing myself a disservice by not going, why not do something that will help me get a better grade?

Blog Assignment #1

Time For a Change

School has always been fairly easy for me in the past. From elementary to high school my grades were always good. I never really had to study. I could just go in the test without any preparation and do well. Everything just seemed to click for the most part, except a few instances (math). I never had any real struggles with doing my homework or writing papers; I really didn’t have to try hard. I came to the University of Virginia straight out of high school and it was my first choice. I am a third year politics major with a focus in government.

I took EDIS 2890 because I want to excel in college. The transition from high school to college for me was fairly difficult for me. It was not because I was away from home, and missed my family and friends. It was difficult because I played a sport while trying to balance my workload. I run track here, and I am always so exhausted. I am not able to stay up long enough to do my work, and even if I was able to I just did not want to do anything else after pushing myself to my limit day after day. My grades have suffered because of this. It is hard for me to focus on my work, and when I begin to read my books I tend to just fall asleep. Another reason why my grades are not so good is because I never really had study habits. I never had to really take notes, especially ones where they are not written on the board. Luckily this class has been helpful. I am much more organized now. I’m improving my study habits and my grades have already improved.  I’m not going to accept another sub-par academic performance this year, and I feel like this class can help me achieve my goal. I’m excited to take this class because I already know it will help give me the tools I need to study efficiently and get the grades I want.