by Jordan Blackburn
Procrastination Essay_Draft 4
It’s a problem we’ve all faced: you sit down to write the greatest, most important essay of your life, one that coincidentally happens to be worth 10 percent of your first semester grade and is due tomorrow. (“NO MOM, I COULDN’T START IT BEFORE TODAY I WAS REALLY BUSY, GOD!”) You open up your word processing document, title it something like “BEST MOST AWESOME ESSAY EVER” or, if you’re feeling practical, “Beowulf Final Essay”. You format the document correctly and then take a well-deserved break and immediately switch to the web browser to peruse your social network of choice for anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour depending on your self-control. This constant and irritating cycle of procrastination plagues almost every student, regardless of the amount of time they have available to complete the assignment, or their level of motivation. Sure, the methods by which we choose to procrastinate may differ; playing video games, reading a book, making some sort of baked good, or even completing some other assignment that’s significantly less important and isn’t due for two weeks are all valid strategies of procrastination. Before you know it, it’s 10 p.m. and you’ve written the title and not much else. Yeah, that cat picture was pretty funny but now it’s 1 a.m. and you can’t even remember who Grendel was, much less his (her?) symbolism within the text. At times, it even seems like procrastination is linked to assignment importance: the more an assignment is worth, the longer it will take to complete due to procrastination. There are obvious downsides to procrastination. It’s stressful to know you have other things to be doing while you’re trying to have fun, staying up late to do homework isn’t exactly pleasant, and waiting until the last minute to complete an assignment doesn’t always result in turning in your best work. Procrastination, however, also has unique benefits that may not always be obvious at first sight. Students, as a group, lack free time. Sure, students don’t spend all their time at home, but the hours in which they are not actively in class are expected to be filled with other pursuits, often academic: there is, of course, homework, but other activities such as volunteering, clubs, test-prep,
18
and athletics are all seen as necessary addendums to the already taxing high school curriculum. Some of these activities can be fun, but attempting to balance all of these many activities in addition to school results in the loss of time for socialization and things like reading and watching television, as well as sleep. It may not seem like playing “Cube Runner” or surfing your Facebook news feed for longer than is probably strictly warranted is any kind of great victory for your burgeoning autonomy, but if taking five minutes to do something that you want to
October 2014 — The Tam News
do, maybe at the expense of 10 lines of your essay, is the thing that prevents you from curling up under your desk and screaming, then by all means, take that quiz to see which Kardashian you most resemble. Procrastination isn’t always good, and doesn’t always help your peace of mind, and if you’re finding procrastination to be a problem, there are plenty of resources in place to help you find a method to keep yourself focused. But sometimes a little bit of procrastination can be the thing that keeps you sane in what seems like an unending flood of obligations and responsibilities. ♦
by Holly Parkin
“Who is Ferguson?”
In the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, news outlets, the Internet, and everyday people focused non-stop on the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri. Details about Brown’s shooting and the African American community’s protests continue to emerge, instigating debates and further action. Everywhere, it seems, is buzzing about Ferguson – except for Tam High. The civil disobedience in Ferguson was first triggered by the aforementioned shooting. Citizens of Ferguson were quick to react to the event, which marked what many saw as yet another unjust death in a long line of black teenagers killed as a result of racial profiling by police. For more than two weeks, civil unrest permeated Ferguson, as highly militarized police responded violently towards Michael Brown’s supporters, who adopted the slogan “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” and engaged in mostly peaceful protests. While the worst of the situation seems to have subsided for now, and media attention has diminished, the protests in Ferguson continue and Brown’s shooting is not old news. The debates sparked by these affairs are still very real and relevant, and have shed a light on the fact that racism and police brutality – two separate issues, but ones that often go hand in hand – are still alive and kicking in a not-so-post racial America. However, as these events have unfolded over the past few weeks, I have noticed a stunning, and very disappointing, lack of interest from the majority of Tam’s predominantly white student body. Obviously, nobody expects Tam students to fly down to Ferguson to join the protests against racism and police brutality. But there are plenty of other ways to take action for a highly important cause, whether it is signing petitions or simply raising awareness via social media. Unfortunately, many stu-
dents at Tam seem to lack this motivation to stay informed. Instead, the highlight of my Facebook news feed was filled by campaigns such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which, coincidentally, is also centered around raising awareness for an important cause. While still a beneficial campaign, it has been disheartening to see Tam students spending
more time dumping ice water on their heads rather than educating themselves on an important social issue. Any Tam students or other young adults who have been keeping updated and continuing to spread awareness over social media deserve respect for engaging in a serious, real world issue that may not be a bandwagon topic at the time. Of course, it is unfair to base all of my assumptions about how invested people are in Ferguson solely by their social media accounts. I don’t doubt that many Tam students are aware of what has been going on. The issue is that not too many kids seem to care all that much. In conversations that I have had with my peers over the past few weeks, I have heard such reasons for not being too involved such as “it doesn’t have anything to do with me,” and “that kind of thing wouldn’t happen here.” Racism and police brutality happen
everywhere. Watching my friends or my peers sigh, eyes rolling in a “oh, here we go again” fashion whenever Ferguson is mentioned, is not only incredibly insulting to the immense multitude of people who are subjected to racism every day, but also to everyone who fears the abusive power of a militarized police force. It may not seem like it is happening at first glance, but there are police everywhere, and there are minorities everywhere. Nowhere is guaranteed to be safe from outbreaks like what we have seen in Ferguson, not even our own neighborhood, especially when police departments across the country are being supplied with military surplus gear. This is why raising awareness is necessary. All it takes is one click of the “share” button below a petition or a video. One “like” of an article highlighting the protests and their significance. We are the online generation, after all. If we have enough time to be dedicated to raising awareness for ALS, a disease that, while deserving of attention, is relatively rare, then we definitely Graphic by:Leo DiPierro have the time to spread awareness of racism and police brutality, two afflictions that have the potential to affect the majority of the country every day. According to a report issued by the CATO Institute in 2010, 23.8 percent of the 4,861 police misconduct reports that year were classified as “excessive force.” Ferguson may be out of the major news headlines for now, but it is by no means a dead subject. These eye-opening protests that we have seen are merely the start of a nationwide recognition of issues that used to - and often still do - get swept under the rug in today’s culture. It may seem as though America has entered a new era of equality, but in reality, the broken values our country has endured for centuries still hold a place in our society. Therefore, it is up to our society’s members to take a stand. One thing is for certain: these issues will not go away forever until people – young adults, like Tam students, especially – start to care. ♦
The Tam News — October 2014
19