It’s 11 p.m. on a Thursday when I realize I have exactly one hour to complete my assessment quiz on Blackboard.
Immediately, I begin to panic and wonder why I didn’t complete this assignment earlier. I was told about this quiz a week in advance and simply waited until the last minute to carry out this assignment.
There’s no particular reason I waited this late. Oh wait, was it that episode of BET’s “College Hill” that kept me from my work? Or was it all that time spent on the Set that preoccupied my time for academics?
While wondering what my reason was for the delay, I suddenly remember I have a paper on humanities due tomorrow morning, and of course, I haven’t even attempted to start.
I finish my paper the next morning right before my class with 10 minutes to spare – that is until I discover there is no more black ink in my printer. Now I have to rush to a working printer, which makes me 10 minutes late to class.
Although I know my professor hates tardiness, I figure he will let me slide after I’ve given him my sob story.
So when my professor didn’t allow me to enter the classroom, I guess I wasn’t too surprised because he often mentioned how unacceptable tardiness was.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that I take college lightly. It’s just that I sometimes-well, a lot of the time-procrastinate.
Procrastination is a widespread epidemic circulating from campus to campus. Most, if not all, of my friends have already been affected by this affliction in more ways than one.
Many of us suffering from this condition may later find ourselves having to repair damaged GPAs in the long run.
It’s almost funny how easy procrastination sneaks its way into our everyday lives.
One minute you’re studying for a test, and the next, you’re taking a three-hour, seemingly self-deserved break doing something totally insignificant. It’s like a vacation.
You get a chance to enjoy yourself for a short time but in the end you’re back at square one with nothing accomplished and nothing to show for it.
While we still have a little time in this semester we should take a stand against procrastination and its heavy consequences. All we have to do is sacrifice a little to gain a lot.
We don’t necessarily have to go to the Moon every Wednesday night. We can be a little late to social functions in order to do what is most important.
In the end, we must remind ourselves of the real reason we are all here. We are at a higher institution of learning for exactly that reason – to learn.
Jessica Fleming is a freshman journalism student from Birmingham, Ala. She can be reached at jessica1.flemming@famu.edu