“Dear Zoe,
How can I get all my homework done and still find time for my personal life?”
–Stressed Out
Dear Stressed Out,
There are few universal truths about college. One is that no one likes doing homework.
Guess what, professors hate it too. That is why it takes some so long to grade papers and exams. It stinks when you feel like you are wasting your life memorizing equations or reading a book you have read before.
There is no easy way to say this, but the fact of the matter is you are going to have to bite the bullet and suck it up.
Some classes require hours of work for a few tedious problems, while others require small libraries worth of reading. No matter the class, there is going to be homework involved. Get used to it.
The easiest option is to procrastinate. College students are amazing procrastinators because it often is easier to put off assignments than taking the time to finish them.
It may work well in the short term, but eventually it catches up with you. When it is 3 a.m. and you have just started an assignment that is due at 8 a.m., your time frame is severely limited.
The best advice I can give is to find out what works for you. Some students need to get lost in the library stacks for hours at a time.
Other students seemingly pull amazing work from thin air, writing their papers the night before they are due or making up a speech on the spot. These people are easy to envy, but reality is that even people who appear to never stress have to think about homework and grades.
They show it in a different way. At some point, school gets hard for everyone.
If you feel like you are missing out on parties or special alone time with your significant other, remind yourself that you are at college to learn.
Sure, it sometimes seems like education is on the back burner, but college is costing you and the government too much money to waste. There are parties every weekend, and if your special someone really likes you, they will be willing to postpone until you finish your history paper.
Education is the key to success. It is hard to become an expert today without formal education. College, and its darker twin, homework, are key components. There are going to be assignments that make you cry and a few that will make you smile as you see your hard work pay off.
As the cliché expression goes: get ‘er done.
