Deadlines Are Closer than You Think

By Starletta Smith Staff Writer

Your professor has assigned you an assignment due Sunday at 11:59 p.m. “Thank god,” you say. This gives you plenty of time to work on it. Maybe you take time to relax before you begin. After all, it is due Sunday. A little break never hurts anybody. Suddenly your boss calls you; now you’re doing swing shifts, covering for coworkers, and barely getting six hours of sleep. In the back of your mind, you know there’s something you must do, but you cannot remember what.

Sunday is your day off, so you decide to spend it sleeping. You worked hard this week; you deserve this break. You wake up; the time is 11:40. Finally, you remember the assignment!

If you’re like me, time is not on our side for us busybodies. We all have lives outside of college, so it’s easy to forget the work our professors assign us.

Whether it is taking care of our families, work, or procrastination, somehow, some of us will tend to miss a few assignments. At one point, it can get stressful. You may start to think you’ll never be able to turn in your assignments, thus forcing you to drop out. If there is one thing I learned while attending HCC, it is to be prepared.

Whether it’s your first or last year in college, you always want to be one step ahead of your professor. Make sure to buy a calendar or a planner. You can even use your built-in calendar on your phone. Write down each due date for all your classes. Set up reminders on your phone. No matter how far a due date is, it’s always closer than you think.

Get started right away when your professor gives you an assignment. The due date may be three days away, but think of it as if it was due tomorrow. Today you may be free, but you don’t know if you’ll be available for the next two days.

When working on your assignments, do the ones that require you to work harder first. Some professors may assign reading for the week, while others assign two-page essays. Personally, I try to knock out a few assignments from each professor in the first two days of the week.

Life has not been easy thanks to COVID. Some of us who exceed better in a class are forced out of our comfort zone and put into online classes. To those who are struggling and on the brink of giving up, take a breath. Remind yourself that you’ve got this. Take some time to relax your thoughts.

When you’ve collected yourself, grab your calendar and start getting ahead of your assignments.