Photo by: Cat Greenwood
Step 1. The ‘Work Normally” Mood. This is the typical pace you begin your semester with. You go to your classes, and work for around two hours on homework, but your typical library time is spent on Netflix and YouTube.
Step 2. The 3 Hour Long Study Break. This is when you do half your assignment, and then give yourself a break to watch a 10-minute YouTube video, but four hours later you’re knee-deep in a baking video and your assignment is still not finished.
Step 3. The “no one needs to study all the time!” You realize that you are just one of the ‘lucky ones’ who just need to study for around three hours a day to pass your classes. You celebrate with a milkshake and stay up with your friends till 3 a.m. playing video games.
Step 4. The “eh, I’ll kind of focus.” After staying up obscenely late the previous night, you are naturally exhausted for your 8 a.m. lecture, but attendance is mandatory. Half paying attention to the professor, half checking the time every 20 seconds, you realize that all the notes are online and there are no real reasons to pay attention to this stuff too much.
Step 5. The Failing Grade. The inevitable happens – you fail your first test. Disappointment lingers all around you as you begin to wonder what went wrong. You ask the teacher what happened, and they ask if you understood the new material, material you really don’t remember learning. You sulk back to your dorm to drink a consolatory milkshake in silence.
Step 6. The Denial. You decide that the reason you failed your test was because your teacher didn’t cover the material enough, and there was nothing you could do. To try and help your friends ask to see your notes you realize that the majority of them are doodles of dogs you saw earlier.
Step 7. The Comeback. Getting to class 30 minuets early, coffee in one hand, and your planner in the other you jump into the next section with as much drive as a first semester freshman. For the next week you are present in every class and a model student for your professors, coupled with spending every extra moment in the library.
Step 8. The Burn Out. After hitting snooze for the 20th time on your 8 a.m. lecture alarm, you just decide to skip out on class. You really won’t miss anything anyways, plus you’ve had perfect attendance every day for the past 2 weeks! It won’t matter! You decide to stay in bed all day and binge on some Netflix.
Step 9. The “Come to Jesus Moment.” After realizing that missing classes won’t help you make good enough grades to pass class, the moment finally hits you. You build a steady homework routine of around four hours a day to do your work, with 20 minuet breaks built in, and make sure to actively participate in your classes. This steady schedule helps keep you on track for your grades and keeps you focused in the long run.
Step 10. The Repeat. The process begins again as your study plan deteriorates and you spend most of your library time on YouTube and Netflix, doing most of your assignments on time. You repeat the process as many times as needed before the 10th Step goes away, but until then you exist in a constant loop.