Author: Courtney Ciardullo

Looking through the abundance of blog posts swarming the site right now I can tell we are all struggling with the dreaded ‘P’ word. Something that haunts not just college students but just about everybody. The concept of procrastination intrigued me as I scrolled through all of the posts created today, the last possible day. We had an entire semester to post just ten times yet most of us waited until now, including myself. Why? With this, I decided to do some research on procrastination. 

Researching the topic I found an article titled “Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination” by Eric Jaffe. Jaffe explains that procrastination “goes back to ancient civilizations”. I learned that there are actually different types of procrastinators. Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University says “while everybody may procrastinate, not everyone is a procrastinator.” There 20% of people are classified as chronic procrastinators. He relates the matter to telling a person considered a chronic procrastinator “to just do their work is like telling a depressed person to just cheer up.” 

There is actually a neuropsychological factor to procrastination. Laura Rabin of Brooklyn College says that there might actually be a connection between the frontal system of the brain and procrastinating work. The frontal parts of the brain are “involved in a number of processes that overlap with self-regulation. These behaviors — problem-solving, planning, self-control, and the like — fall under the domain of executive functioning.” To test this 212 students were collected and assessed on procrastination and then on the above skills. It in fact correlated, students who tend to procrastinate also had problems with the behaviors caused by the frontal brain. Though there could be other factors link, they believe that this could be a cause of procrastination.

Procrastination is very common on the college campus, but by reading this article I can definitely look at the topic with fresh eyes. It is wired in us to procrastinate. The article also gives suggestions to people prone to procrastinate such as chopping up work in to pieces in order to efficiently get it done over time. This was also a technique that we discussed in class. Furthering my knowledge on this subject will definitely benefit me in my future work ethic. 

Group work has never been an activity to steer me away. I became very familiar working with others in high school, as it was a common occurrence. One thing I never thought about doing as group was constructing an essay. Essays were always a task left up to the individual. Thoughts and ideas were welcome to discussion but the actual writing part was for yourself. That’s why it came to a surprise when we were given a group writing assignment. The unfamiliar territory felt unapproachable at this level of my education. As we began working with groups I quickly found how easily your voice can get lost in discussion. It was frustrating to be unable to have control over my own piece. I was accustomed to a way in which I could delete and add ideas as I pleased. However, as we continued I noticed how efficiently we began working. We assigned roles to people in order to get everyones ideas down on paper, we had come up with much better ways of thinking and processing what we were assigned. There was a clear development of skills that I noticed within my group.

It struck me when Gianna while we were working together in a group said “this is a process” referring to the struggle of combining of both groups letters into one. Though not directed in this manner, her comment can be adapted on a larger scale. Development is a process. These skills do not appear over night, they are hard earned and require a lot of work. It was very fascinating to actually witness my group get better as time went on. Working in a group may have came off as almost impossible to me, but I learned the impact that I can have on our writing style from here on out.

Not only does this apply to English but it also can be related to a bigger picture. First semester of college I felt lost, and sometimes lonely. The work level was something I wasn’t adjusted to and I struggled. This semester I have a much bigger group of friends, I learned to manage my time efficiently, I developed skills I didn’t know I was capable of and I learned so much about myself. This is a process, nothing comes easy and nothing comes fast but the end result is worth it.

While, conversing about the article “The Power of Realistic Expectations” my group got into an interesting discussion about a professors strategy of teaching. In the article they review two different ways to relay a message of academic dishonesty. In one case the letter is found to be a direct message with the consequences listed clearly, the other way it will provide resources to better improve grades and be much less harsh. My group related this to a professors teaching style. Some professors are extremely strict and use the assets provided in the first letter. They can be harsh with deadlines with rigorous tests and hours of homework. However, there are teachers who give much more freedom. They give cushion periods for late assignments, the tests are simple and the class is much more laid back. This raises the question of how can a professor be nice, but still retain the respect needed to run a class. As a future teacher this question pertains to me directly. I often think about how I will run my classroom and I believe that a balance is difficult but necessary to achieve a successful classroom. The article portrays that the nicer letters have better feedback, but there is potential for error if there are no restrictions. Students will interpret it as laid back and not take it seriously when in fact it’s a matter that should be handled immediately. Although a harsh letter could elicit a reaction where the student wants to quit, which is why a balance between both letters is the best way to go about a predicament such as this. For example it could include the consequences if a grade increase does not occur followed by suggestions and resources to use to ensure tasks are completed. A medium between harsh and laid back teaching could be put the same way. A professor should be strict with deadlines but also understanding that events do come up that are out of a students control. Finding a balance in the academic workplace is difficult but if achieved could produce a productive and successful classroom environment. 

Why does a task that is so minuscule have such an impact on one’s character? If you fail to hold the door they say you are impolite, and raised wrong. If you hold the door too early you can be categorized as ‘too’ nice or even annoying. I believe that holding the door is overrated and outdated. A person has much more qualities to portray. This is a gesture that takes nothing but a second, but is considered crucial to ones personality. The issue becomes more complicated when you put it in this perspective; this campus is quite large, meaning you cannot identify every person you walk past. Thus, is holding the door for a stranger to protect your reputation worth the risk of allowing an unknown person into an exclusively accessible building? In todays society schools are putting safety above all due to the much too common events occurring. Which justifies why we should be more cautious when doing this deceivingly important action. The University of Georgia’s Police Department defines “the practice of holding the door for multiple persons” as “piggy backing”. Suggesting that this be avoided at all costs because it can lead to many risks such as burglary and possibly assault. Next time you hold the door, out of habit perhaps for an unfamiliar face consider the risks. 

I walked from my morning class back to my dorm, the air was cold as it always is. I took off all my layers, plopped my backpack down and began homework. It wasn’t long till I was easily distracted by the TV playing in the common room, I watched for a few minutes and then went back to work. This description of my day to a reader sounds uneventful as if this presumably happened to hundreds of kids on campus today. Is this true? Some people have told me college is the best years of their lives, some have told me it was the hardest, and some even addressed it as life changing. Leading up to my freshman year I heard so many different takes on college. It intrigued me as to how different college can be depending on what you make out of it.

It is an interesting concept that whoever you talk to about their college years could have something completely different to say. This ties into the assignment to read Geneseo’s GLOBE.  The first section titled “A Framework for Building and Assessing a Holistic Student Experience at Geneseo”. We as students hear so much about this idea of the college experience. A mother emphasizing the learning part of a student experience, or a cousin whispering make sure you really get the college experience! Everyone who steps foot onto this campus comes in with a different mindset. Some are going to sit in their dorm all day, skipping classes, blinded the pleasure part of a college experience. Some are going to spend hours on end stressing, and studying ignoring the pleasure aspect. People leave college with the person they spend the rest of their lives with, people leave college with a degree in something they love, or something they hate. People leave college with the best memories of their lives, or with only the mental images of piled up textbooks. There isn’t just one collective experience assigned to us, we as individuals have our own, some may be smarter, and some more enjoyable but your GPA, your friends, or the number of parties you attended don’t define your college experience, you do.