Remedy, Rewrite, Reconcile with Rayan: The college nightmare
By Rayan Abdulkadir
Q: How do I keep up with my late work?
This is a question I ask myself often. I always do well when the semester starts—I use an agenda and meticulously plan with Google Calendar. I go to class and ask questions, even if the class isn't something I'm necessarily interested in. I would do my assignments ahead of time instead of 20 minutes before the deadline, and I loved how productive and accomplished I felt. But something always happens a few weeks into the semester that makes me slip up just once. It could be a bad day, a bad night, or even a bad week, and the moment one assignment doesn't get done, it's like something in my head switches off. The moment I miss a deadline, I start to think, “If I missed this one, what's the point of doing the rest on time?” I start to slack, leave class early, and stop writing things down and it becomes an uphill battle from there.
I've been trying to combat the mid-semester slide by doing things that make me feel accomplished outside of academics. For every few assignments I do, I watch a movie I've been eyeing. For every few exams I do well on, I buy a collector's item or go to a thrift store because I realized I was equating my worth as a person with academics instead of the things that actually mattered to me. When I felt ashamed or disappointed in myself for not doing well academically, it became that much easier to let the assignments continue to pile up. Why would I open Canvas knowing there would be a series of 0’s in the grade book?
What really helps with getting assignments done is letting go of all my preconceived notions of what a good student looks like. Not everyone is Type A or has the capacity and energy to block out hours of each day to study. Sometimes, it's just about getting by, especially if you already have a series of past-due assignments. In an ideal world, you would have created a plan in case something goes wrong, but in college, that rarely happens.
If you feel yourself slipping, here are a few things you can do:
Reach out to your professors. Most of the time, they are less concerned about you meeting deadlines and more concerned about you learning and understanding the content. A lot of professors just want to make sure you're okay. An email or a Canvas message might be helpful. More often than not, professors are incredibly willing to give out extensions and waive late points.
Seek out your support system. Study with friends, join a study group, or even go to office hours.
Give yourself some grace. The work will get done as long as you create a plan and stick to it. That means using your calendar even if you hate it. One thing I do at the start of each semester is sync Canvas with my Google Calendar so that I get notifications to do assignments every time I open my laptop.
You, my friend, are going to be okay and I wish you the best of luck in getting things done!
