Last-minute homework a rite of passage for students

Hellen Akinyi
Staff Writer

I have perfected the art of procrastination over the years. Ever since I was a kid, my African mum was my biggest critic when it came to that.

I mean, why do it now when I could do it later? I am a last-minute person, which means I always tend to wait until the final moment to get most things done. Growing up I always felt the need to have some form of entitlement which made me be productive whenever I felt like being productive and not when I had to be.

So, as I got older and seeing that how I did things always worked out for me. I actually never felt the need to change or be ‘better’, especially when it came to homework, despite having more than enough time to get it done.

In most cases, I never really completed my assignments, or would do them in class while the teacher would review our work, and somehow that worked for me. Until now.

Schools back home in Kenya are different than here, and what I have noticed is that we get more assignments here. So, trying to complete assignments on time even, if it’s last minute, has been quite a struggle.

Most college students can relate to this since we always complain about how many assignments we get, while doing the bare minimum. We will wait till the last minute, then stay up all night to get that paper done. Are we wrong for this?

Listen, I am a professional procrastinator and I always seem to regret it at the very end, then tell myself I won’t do it again. But it’s the same cycle every other week.

We forget that what we put in is what we will get out. Regardless, we still like to wait until the last minute while seeing our assignments piling up, and it is a trait that many college students have in common.

“Being a college student is hard.” Yes, it is, but we make it even harder for ourselves. Yes, I said that, but does that mean I will change and quit procrastinating? No! Should you? Yes.

I’ll end it with a quote because it plays the biggest role in my procrastination and I am not selfish.

“You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last-minute panic.” – Bill Waterson.

Header photo courtesy of Flickr.