The Life of Highschool

The first day of Oak Hill High School was the year of 2015. Nerves race through people as it is a new territory to explore and embark on our “more responsible lives”. Highschool for me started off amazing in fact. I always had my work done, had made honor roll for two years, and even high honors at another point, and it was all with friends by my side. At times I was the annoying kid  like the annoying mosquito at night during summer that can just be heard but not found. I was the one who was all “Oh, I am ahead in the class”, “Oh, I’m all caught up in Membean, and then some” (as my classmates complained how far behind they were or how much dubious minutes they had), or the “This is so easy”. I was that annoying kid, but I did not do it too much so I do not think it was too bad. But, hey, I could be all wrong. However, that did not last that long and I just learned to shut up. Now, people might just see me as the quiet kid or the kid whos music can be heard from across the classroom; I do not know, it’s just what you think. For me high school has taught me a valuable lesson.

It is half way through high school and that should mean for most people they are about half way done with their credits. For me, that was true. Going into Junior year I already had 14 credits done, which meant I only had 10 left to split between Junior and Senior year. Junior year entailed a lot more work. I got a job, I was now a student teacher at a preschool, and I decided to take my first class through University of Maine at Augusta. I had a lot to do, and I was managing pretty well. For the first semester I was at least. Once second semester started I barely did anything. I think that was the worst decision I could have ever made for that year. I ended up failing my first class ever in my course of schooling. When it came to making up that credit in summer school, I ended up pulling an “all-nighter” the night before the first day of it to get the work I should of had done, done. I ended up going to summer school only one day and I was done. However, if I had actually kept up with the determination that had shown up when the end of a semester came along, I would not of had to do summer school at all. That “procrastinatory” mood was still in mindset once senior year started. Only this time it was worse than ever.

This is for the procrastinators. There is roughly 700 school days through the experience of highschool. A typical year holds roughly 175 days. Yet, so often those last twenty-ish days of each semester are where people begin to realize “oh no, I need to finish this”. They push with determination to get rid of it, to “pass go and collect $200”. In other words the sense of urgency to pass all the classes to get rewarded with the summer vacation at the end of the year, or the “Oh crap, my parents are gonna kill me if I fail” type of urgency and be rewarded with “Oh I am safe I passed”. However, this determination that is shown the last few weeks in a semester where is that determination in the rest of the year?

Well, that depends on the type of procrastinator the person is. There is the “minor procrastinators” who are maybe a week behind. They might of not done that one last essay or maybe there is a couple of them, all cause they had done so much work or they were just feeling lazy but they decided they “Eh, I will do it later”. Then there is what I became, the type of procrastinator that every teacher probably gets most irritated with, and probably wants to scream and speak their mind to, but hold back and bite their tongue, (unless the teacher just does not really care as much). This procrastinator is the worst of them all because they are the ones that decided not to do any of their work in the beginning of the semester, and try to get it all done within the last week of school. They have strong determination to get the things that are needed to be done and sometimes sacrifice things like eating, sleeping, sometimes even their hygiene, (which is pretty gross) in order to get everything completed. This is just as I did. I went to the store, and bought 12 monsters and 8 coffees to prepare for the last week of school because I did not plan on sleeping much – if at all. I now also do homework during my bus rides, from 6:25-7 and then again from 2-2:30. I even started using my lunches to just squeeze in all my work. The questions I seem not able to conclude to is, “Where do I hide away all of this determination during the rest of the school year?” or “Why not do my work on time?”. Why does it just hide away, like a bear hibernating for the cold winter that is to come? That answer is that of the unknown.

If this determination for school remained within those procrastinators throughout the entire school year. Maybe then, and just maybe then people would really learn the things we are supposed to, during our schooling “career”. However, it is not what happens most of the time.

Procrastination can be thought of as a “helper aid”, but it is not that great. It lets someone learn from their mistakes. However, it leads people to becoming stressed and stress is not healthy for our bodies. Procrastination can lead people to doing things they normally would not do or simply do not want to do or actions that should not be done, to begin doing.

This speech is one of the many things that I have to get done. Especially since I decided to take Dual Enrollment English Composition. However, if I actually tried to do all that work I would probably become a mindless zombie from not sleeping or eating. So, I’m dropping dual enrollment…. On the last week of school. I hate myself for doing it, meaning all that time I spent last semester doing dual enrollment work is basically gonna go down the drain cause now I’m just gonna have a failing Thomas College grade. The only reason I am working on this speech is because it is to be presented in front of this English four classroom. What I am trying to say is do your work and do not procrastinate. If you use the determination you get during those few weeks at the end of the semester you can go to great places. I wish that I had held onto my determination throughout the years, ‘cause man does procrastination flat out suck.

Procrastination has taught me a good life lesson. It might have been a bit rough and annoying. However, I do not plan on procrastinating this bad again. It put me in a spot where I question if I will actually graduate and that is a horrible idea. If I could go back and fix my mistakes I would not of procrastinated as hard as I did. If you could go back and tell your old-younger-self just one thing to put yourself in a good spot later on what it be?

Photo by Foter.com / CC BY